Intensity: 🩸🩸 🩸out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed by R.T. Thorne
The post-apocalyptic Canadian survival tale 40 Acres is a savage and emotional story that tests the boundaries of Darwinian society at the brink. In the end, when countries and governments fail, the family unit survives. This movie has increased prominence due to the current tensions between Canada and the US. The sense of dread only increases when the plausibility factor of this story has increased tenfold in recent months. The plot mirrors a thrilling opening scene with a devastating closing act, which stacks the deck heavily against our protagonists. Pulses will pound.
Forteen years ago, from when this movie starts, a devastating fungal blight wiped out 98% of the world’s crops. Two years later, a Civil War broke out, collapsing governments in Canada and worldwide. Eleven years ago, famine wiped out livestock and wildlife, crushing societies, and the world went back to warring over agricultural production.
Enter the Freeman family, a joint family of descendants of black southern sharecroppers and aboriginal tribal descent. They are a formidable lot, honed by martial skill and agricultural wisdom, and a terrific plot of fertile ground. Along with other neighboring farms, they are the last bastion of hope for the recovery of society. They are beseiged by vicious raiding parties, many of whom have turned to cannibalism out of pure desperation.
The Cast of 40 Acres:
- Danielle Deadwyler plays Hailey Freeman, an ex-soldier and the descendent of southern sharecroppers who fled to Canada during reconstruction in 1875. She is stern and protective, and the unquestioned leader of the family.
- Michael Greyeyes plays Galen, who fled with Hailey to her legacy farmstead. He is a cunning tactician, a lover of good food, and respectful of his native traditions.
- Kataem O’Connor plays Emanuel, Hailey’s oldest child. He is powerful and a great fighter, but he is by far the most empathic person in the family and is concerned that the family is trying to survive on their own.
- Milcania Diaz-Rojas plays Dawn, a young medic who stumbles into the Freeman farm seeking help.
- Leenah Robinson portrays Raine, Galen’s daughter. She is a dead-eye sniper but still inexperienced in affairs beyond the family compound.
- Jaeda LeBlanc is Danis, Hailey’s second child. She has just performed the rite of the Moral Responsibility of a Soldier and can now venture out in the field with her parents.
- Hailey Amare plays Cookie, Hailey’s youngest daughter, who is still being taught how to defend the family farm.
- Elizabeth Saunders is Augusta Taylor, Hailey’s good friend and squadmate. Her farm trades moonshine for the Freeman family’s weed, one of the few acts of commerce in this post-apocalyptic world.
A Short Synopsis of 40 Acres
The movie opens with about twenty heavily armed men (mostly) advancing through a cornfield towards a farmstead. The raiders confidently advance through the high corn and surround the compound. The leader of these raiders announces that it would be a shame to let all of this bounty go to waste without sharing. And then a hail of bullets rings out, cutting down several of the raiding party. Men sneak into the farmhouse and barn and are silently dispatched, sending the remaining pirates fleeing through the cornfield only to be ambushed on their way out. Meet the Freeman family. They are badass, proficient warriors.
We learn about their daily routine as the Freemans clean up after the firefight. It is a disciplined life of harvesting, studying, and training. Unlike most in this post-apocalyptic world, they are well-fed and sheltered. Hailey runs her family like a military platoon. Conversations often end with “Yes, ma’am” and “Yes, sir” when the children address Hailey and Galen. She keeps in contact with the outside world with a ham radio array, listening in as nearby fars struggle to stay above starvation.
The family becomes aware of potential cannibal activity as the raiding parties are getting more desperate in this time of need. A nearby farm has gone quiet, so everyone is vigilant. Emanuel is old enough to patrol the grounds on his own. He is a powerful young man, but he’s becoming slightly disillusioned with the lack of contact with the nearby community. While swimming in a nearby creek, he spots someone else, a beautiful young woman he spies on from the brush cover. His hormones are engaged, and he is smitten but cautious not to engage.
After the Freeman’s most trusted allies go radio silent, and a family scouting venture to the local trading depot ends in tragedy, Dawn arrives at the farmstead’s electric fence, pleading for help. The timing and circumstances are suspicious. Can she be trusted? Hailey fears she may be a spy or a raider scout. Emanuel implores his mother to take her in because they can’t continue to live in a world without allies. Fateful decisions will need to be made as the harbinger of destruction draws close.
Evaluation:
40 Acres is intense. Though you can sense the pressure points coming, the story keeps enough variables open that you get the dread without the predictability. I qualify this film to be horror adjacent, as it plays more like a science-fiction action movie. The Road Warrior is a good comp. Another solid reference is The Walking Dead when it was at its peak. The overarching theme is community collapse and the pressure of a small group overcoming an overwhelming adversary.
I suspect that Canadians may rally around this picture. The plucky and resilient smaller unit pitted against an aggressive force looking to claim their territory. Sound familiar? Surprisingly, the theme of sharecropping and the proverbial 40 acres and a mule, the reconstruction reward for freed slaves following the Civil War, took a bit of a back seat. The legacy of people freed from bondage or oppression, looking to find a place of their own, is undoubtedly a subtext. However, those themes are not explicitly spelled out to the audience if you are not a history scholar.
All of the performances find perfect landing places in this story. Deadwyler is powerful as the alpha momma whose martial prowess matches her protective energy. Michael Greyeyes shows off his action chops, particularly in a masterfully edited dark room set piece. He also displays wry humor as the loyal spouse and stable dad figure. O’Connor is a star in the making. He is a big, handsome dude, but his empathic countenance shines in this movie, providing a perfect counterpoint for why this family is worth fighting for. I foresee a bright future for him, as he has big-time leading man chops.
Concluding Thoughts
R.T. Thorne has created the perfect metaphor for this immediate political context. He could not have imagined the diplomatic trauma that North America is going through right now, but it becomes a symbol to rally around. Even the cannibal context finds a metaphorical home with this message. Regardless of your view of the politics, the movie packs tremendous visceral drama with the ballet of violence on display. But the need for community is, in the end, what carries this picture to the finish line.
40 Acres received an R rating from the MPAA for strong bloody violence and language. In a bit of delicious irony, this film will be widely released on July 4, 2025. It was one of the featured films in the Overlook Film Festival and made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
Review by Eric Li
Danielle Deadwyler and Kataem O’Connor in 40 Acres (2025)