By CAROLYN MAURICETTE
Starring Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Greyeyes and Kataem O’Connor
Directed by R.T. Thorne
Written by R.T. Thorne, Glenn Taylor and Lora Campbell
Magnolia Pictures
The world is in chaos–no doubt about it–and our future looks bleak these days. But in R.T. Thorne’s 40 ACRES, we see a glimmer of hope as a family ekes out an existence in a post-apocalyptic world.
It’s the near future, and Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler, I Saw the TV Glow) is the mother of four kids and Galen’s (Michael Greyeyes, Blood Quantum) partner. She’s tiny but mighty, an ex-soldier ruling her homestead with an iron fist, because their life is far from easy. A fungal pandemic killed most of the animal biosphere, and wars broke out due to the global food chain collapse. As famine plagues the world, farmland is considered the most valuable resource. Hailey has inherited a farm that was passed down through many generations of the Freemans, and her family continues to maintain their homestead. It’s a tough life, but they manage to survive and support each other, as well as another compound run by Augusta (Elizabeth Saunders, The Shrouds). Adding to their rough existence are roving bands of renegades looking to pillage their stores and cause harm. When their oldest son, Manny (Kataem O’Connor), spies Dawn, a beautiful young woman (Milcania Diaz-Rojas, Don’t Hang Up) from another camp, he is distracted and yearns for a connection other than the tough life he’s known. But there’s danger ahead, and when the threats finally reach them, they must come together to survive.
Director R.T. Thorne has a knack for world-building. From his TV series Utopia Falls to The Porter, he creates characters and situations that audiences can empathize with. It’s clear that in 40 ACRES, his understanding of real-world anxieties, as well as the fates of Black and Indigenous people, reflects the uncertain times in which we exist. With the dissolution of DEI and support to amplify Black and Brown voices, the real world presents a precarious future, but the key here is that a Black and Indigenous family survive in this not-so-distant world.
A tenet of Afrofuturism is our visibility in the future. Very few sci-fi creators were inclusive, but people like Gene Roddenberry, creator of the Star Trek franchise, and the queen of Afrofuturism, Octavia E. Butler, who foretold many of the events now unfolding in her book Parable of the Sower, made sure to point out that people of color exist in the future. Of course, Thorne also references the historic 1865 “40 Acres and a Mule” promise made to freed Black people after the American Civil War. In 40 ACRES, land is paramount, and Hailey protects her family’s farm alongside her Indigenous husband Galen, who is another connection to the area, the land and First Nations sovereignty. It’s a brilliant packaging that calls for solidarity with our Black and Indigenous peoples.
Deadwyler and Greyeyes play off each other effortlessly, with their powerhouse talents combining to create a solid foundation of tough-love parents. The four actors playing their children work exceptionally well as a blended family. Look out for the troubled mother-son dynamic between Deadwyler and O’Connor. They embody the struggle for a young person’s autonomy, a mother torn between protective instincts and letting go and the turmoil of emotions in between. It’s a great cast, and there’s a familiar voice for fans of the Paramount horror TV series, From, with Saunders as Augusta.
After its world premiere at TIFF in 2024, the film played SXSW this year. During a Q&A with Thorne, Greyeyes and Leenah Robinson (who plays daughter Raine), it was evident that the audience loved it for the clear message about Black and Indigenous people becoming empowered together. It’s worth seeing 40 ACRES not only for a well-executed thriller and its 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but also to bolster people of color to support one another.
40 ACRES opens in theaters July 4th in Canada and is currently screening in the US.
