My quick rating – 6.4/10. In 40 Acres, Canadian writer-director R.T. Thorne makes a bold leap from TV to feature filmmaking, and the result is a genre-blending post-apocalyptic action drama that mostly hits its mark. Set in a famine-ravaged future where farmland is the world’s most precious commodity, the film follows Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler) and her family—the last descendants of African American farmers who migrated to rural Canada after the Civil War—as they defend their inherited land from a ruthless militia and a world gone cannibalistic.
The film opens with a static text scroll that dumps some necessary exposition about the global collapse and the high value of arable land. It gets the job done, but it’s a bit of a dry kickoff for a movie that later leans into some very vivid, visceral moments. A touch more world-building, something visual, atmospheric, or character-driven, would have helped immerse me in this future reality more organically.
What follows, however, is a kinetic introduction to the stakes at play, with an early action sequence that sets the tone and wastes no time showing that this family is armed and deadly serious about protecting their land. The world beyond the farm is chaos, patrolled by savage human scavengers and, most notably, organized groups of cannibals, the primary antagonists here. No zombies or aliens needed; just humanity in its worst form.
Danielle Deadwyler is committed and commanding as Hailey, a hard-edged matriarch whose militaristic leadership style doesn’t exactly invite warmth. She’s not meant to be likable, and that’s kind of the point. She’s all discipline, running her family like a battalion, because that’s what survival now demands. It’s a performance that won’t appeal to everyone, but Deadwyler makes it believable.
Of the ensemble, Leenah Robinson as Raine, the sniper daughter, is my standout. Her quiet intensity and calculated precision give her some of the film’s best moments, and her character arc has more emotional complexity than most. The rest of the cast fills out a diverse and solid family unit, each member playing their role in the larger machine.
Stylistically, Thorne juggles a surprising mix of tones—action, horror, dark humor, religious drama, even a touch of coming-of-age and kidnapping thriller—and somehow makes it work. There’s one extended sequence shot largely in darkness that’s especially effective, using muzzle flashes, sound, and tension that really added a bit of flair to the standard shoot-out. It’s one of several moments where Thorne’s visual instincts really shine.
If there’s a weakness, it’s in the pacing. Some scenes linger longer than necessary, and the film occasionally dips into melodrama without quite earning it. Still, the 113-minute runtime feels justified thanks to a final act that kicks into high gear and barely lets up.
40 Acres doesn’t reinvent the post-apocalyptic wheel, but it’s a strong, grounded entry in the genre that trades clichés for character. There’s no gloss here, just dirt, desperation, and a family clinging to the last thing that matters. Thorne’s debut is promising, and if this is what he delivers straight out of the gate, you can count me in on what is coming next.
