40 Acres

Fourteen years after a fungal virus wiped out 96% of animal life and twelve years after a second Civil War, farmland has become the most precious asset left. Former U.S. soldier Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler, "Till," "The Piano Lesson") and her partner Galen (Michael Greyeyes, "Wild Indian") have trained their mixed family to patrol and protect the Canadian family farm her paternal ancestor established after escaping slavery, but when her eldest,
Emanuel (a sympathetic Kataem O’Connor), spies a beautiful young woman at his favorite swimming spot, it presages an assault on their "40 Acres."

Laura's Review: B

Canadian writer (with Glenn Taylor)/director R.T. Thorne, who shares a story by credit with Lora Campbell, hasn't come up with anything new, his feature debut a derivative post-apocalyptic, cannibalistic survival tale resembling such forerunners as The Twilight Zone's 'The Shelter,' "It Comes at Night,"
"A Quiet Place" and "The Hills Have Eyes," adding black and indigenous American history for his own stamp. But just because a movie's themes have largely been explored before does not mean Thorne's film isn't worthwhile. Featuring another standout performance from Deadwyler as a tough love matriarch, "40 Acres" is a taut survival thriller where a teenager's attraction to an unknown young woman keeps us guessing about her motivations.

The film's opening moments illustrate just what Freeman's family must be on constant guard against as a line of armed men approach their mid nineteenth century farmhouse, whistled communications lending an eerie soundscape. One by one, the men are taken out by arrows, a hatchet and gunfire, Hailey reminding her youngest, pre-teen Cookie (Haile Amare), not to waste bullets. But Manny, who's killed one of them with a knife, is startled when he removes the corpse's face covering, revealing a young woman, but not as started as his sister Raine (Leenah Robinson), who swears when the woman begins to gasp. Ordered by his mother to 'finish the job,' it is obvious Manny has a difficult time doing so.

Hailey keeps in touch with other farms via a radio set-up in her basement, notably her old friend Augusta Taylor (Elizabeth Saunders, TV's 'From,' "The Shrouds"), who tells her she's been unable to reach the Flemings, yet accepts that Hailey will not venture out to check on them, something that sets the Freemans apart from others in the loosely knit community. Still, the friendship is obviously tight, Augusta signing off with 'You keep the buds growin', I'll keep the shine flowin'.' But when Galen takes Manny, the clan's eldest Danis (Jaeda LeBlanc) and Manny out to the Trade Depot, they find hanging bodies being drained of their blood, and when armed men enter, even though Galen quickly uncovers their lies and fires, Danis is badly wounded. Even worse, when the group makes it home and Hailey calls August to tell her 'we've found your animals,' there is no answer. And then when Manny patrols the farm's electric fence and finds that young woman, Dawn (Milcania Diaz-Rojas), pleading for help, he hides her in the family's barn.

Thorne employs well-placed flashbacks, Manny's memories filling in family history, like the horse they once had and the grandfather, Felix (Tyrone Benskin), who was shot back when he was a child. Hailey's will include her initial meeting with Augusta, a white woman who helped her when she broke down on her way home from the Army and met her young son for the first time in his memory. In this regard, Thorne's film is also a coming-of-age movie, and he relieves tension for a bit as Dawn slowly warms up to Manny in the barn, but just as she's begun to dance, enchanted by Manny's old Walkman, a furious Hailey discovers what is going on and although a surprising connection is revealed, it is also something of a Trojan horse.

Thorne splits his climactic third act into three prongs, Hailey venturing out to Augusta's while Galen and Raine try to hold down the farm, Danis still recovering, Manny having gone off on his own with Dawn. The action is brutal and bloody, Deadwyler, in particular, exhibiting great physical prowess. Production designer Peter Cosco contrasts Hailey's authentic farmhouse with Augusta's simpler wooden cabin, the farmhouse and its tall cornfields a more elaborate set for action sequences. Thorne and Taylor stretch, if not quite break, credulity with their protagonists amazing survival rates, but the themes of family and a mother's fierce protectiveness versus the values of the young black man who is her son are brought to the forefront with the use of Jacob Banks' 'Slow Up' during the movie's last scene. "40 Acres," the title a reference to the broken promise of '40 acres and a mule' for freed slaves after the Civil War, is yet another recent cinematic warning about humankind turning towards its worst instincts during societal breakdown.

Robin's Review: B-

14 years ago, a global fungus spread. Two years later was the 2nd Civil War and 11 year ago a world-wide famine struck. Now, with no animals left, except for us humans, farmland means survival and the Freeman family has maintained their land since settling in Canada in 1875. But, raiders and cannibals threaten them all in “40 Acres.”

What the world does not really need is yet another post-apocalypse movie/TV series but, with “40 Acres,” we visit the (sort of) zombie idea once again. Here though, they are not mindless creatures bent on eating your brains. Instead, the creatures that we fear are human raiders, who want their foodstuffs, and cannibals, who want, well, you know.

Danielle Deadwyler, who became my favorite actress with her outstanding performance in the otherwise mediocre, “The Piano Lesson (2024),” is a strong and commanding presence as Freeman family matriarch and kick-ass ex-military Hailey. She, and her partner, Galen (Michael Greyeyes), have built up a secure enclave in rural Canada, including a formidable arsenal of weapons, for their family’s protection.

The small band of survivors must maintain constant vigilance, sending out scouts, including her son, Manny (Kataem O’Connor), who is going through his rebellious, and curious, stage. They must be constantly vigilant during their forays but also to keep an eye out for any supplies they need or want – like a rare cache of spices they find.

Essentially, first-time feature director R.T. Thorne brings us a survival story that, unfortunately, we have seen far too many times before. But, instead the walking dead, we deal with the walking alive who want what is not theirs and will go to great lengths to get it. Not on Hailey’s watch, though.

Any post-apocalyptic movie worth its stuff has to have lots of mayhem. Here, though, the “zombies” have deceitful, greedy and murderous minds so it becomes a pretty basic good guys (the Freemans) versus anyone else – collectively, the bad guys. Fortunately, the “bad guys” are depicted as faceless monsters lacking any real character, making them easy to kill. And, the Freemans kill a lot.

Nothing happens during “40 Acres” that is a surprise. The characters, especially Hailey and her son, are given some depth as they sort out their mother-son-after-the-apocalypse relationship. (I was thinking, as I watched “40 Acres,” that it was probably a good idea that my family did NOT have guns when I was growing up.) Overall, though, the characters are more broadly drawn than well-defined.

The good thing about “40 Acres” is that you root for the home team all the way through, though I never doubted that the family would come out on top, as they should. My greatest fear is that this becomes another franchise, something we do not need.

Magnolia Pictures releases "40 Acres" in theaters on 7/2/2025.