40 ACRES

(Check out Chris Reeds’s 40 Acres movie review, it’s in theaters now. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)

Director R.T. Thorne’s feature debut, 40 Acres, has a lot going for it, most notably the lead performance from actress Danielle Deadwyler (Till). There’s also an engaging post-apocalyptic plot and some thrilling sequences. If not all aspects of the movie come together with equal skill, the overall takeaway is of a well-crafted spectacle that combines social commentary and action-filled entertainment.

Deadwyler is not alone, joined by a compelling ensemble that includes Michael Greyeyes (Blood Quantum) and young actors Kataem O’Connor, Milcania Diaz-Rojas, Leenah Robinson, Jaeda LeBlanc, and Haile Amare. The time is not now, but a near future where a pandemic and subsequent conflicts have left civilization on the brink of collapse. Deadwyler’s Hailey Freeman is an army veteran who is determined to hold onto the farm—her “40 Acres” (a reference to the land grants promised, if not given, to former slaves after the end of the United States Civil War)—which she guards with the blended family that she and Galen (Greyeyes) have raised there.

The property is surrounded by an electrified fence and regularly patrolled by the parents and Hailey’s eldest, Emanuel (O’Connor), aka “Manny.” As we enter the universe of the movie, something has gone horribly wrong, an angry mob of would-be invaders storming the house. The fact that our protagonists are all Black and indigenous lends especial poignancy to the scene, since those marauders are white. Not to worry, though, the Freemans have a good defensive plan, and execute it well.

Manny, though, is a young man very much feeling his oats, tired of being kept away from others his age (other than his siblings). His outside errands have brought him close to another settlement, from which comes Dawn (Diaz-Rojas), whose bathing rituals threaten to overwhelm Manny’s hormones. The more he chafes at his parents’ security rituals, the more they double down. Unfortunately, the circumstances are too volatile, and the perils (including cannibals) too terrible, to allow room for disharmony at home.

There are occasions when the movie’s budget limits the ambition of the mise-en-scène, and one or two moments where the script fails its characters through oversimplification, but 40 Acres succeeds more often than it doesn’t. The stakes are palpable, Deadwyler and company bringing an emotional immediacy to their roles that resonates far beyond the premise. Look around you: the same people are under attack right now. The setup may be fantastical, but the onscreen dangers feel painfully real and current.

– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)

R.T. Thorne; 40 Acres movie review

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