After a series of plagues and wars leaves society in ruins, the Freemans are surviving — even thriving — on a farm in the middle of nowhere. So long as they repel the occasional raiding party…. Former soldier Hailey (Danielle Deadwyler) and her partner Galen (Michael Greyeyes) fled the collapse along with their children, training them to fight and survive. When her eldest son meets a young woman in the forest beyond the fence, his need for human contact could place the whole family in jeopardy. Writer-director R.T. Thorne infuses the dystopian narrative with contemporary relevance and an inescapable historical metaphor, placing Black and Indigenous characters at the center of a story about people defending their land from those who would kill them for it without a second thought.
“40 ACRES is at once an exhilarating blast of action tropes, with a well-earned edge that leans into far deeper, and frankly, far darker aspects of our past…. The film is astonishing, and the performances throughout are effective and engaging. The future of this world may be bleak, but the very fact that some survived all that came before proves the impact of that most delicate of things: hope.” —Jason Gorber, Collider “There is a good chance that if Danielle Deadwyler was actually faced with an apocalypse, she’d be able to navigate the chaos of it all with the same poise that she does in 40 ACRES…. Alongside the great Michael Greyeyes, she gives this post-apocalyptic family drama a sense of gravity just as she is able to leap into action when bloody battles ensue…. Even as the world and movie writ large may fall into chaos, Deadwyler is undeniable once more. She fights for every inch of the film’s emotional ground and comes away with it all in her hands.” —Chase Hutchinson, The Wrap “For as long as Danielle Deadwyler has had to wait to take the lead in an action film like 40 ACRES, it takes far less time for the TILL star to demonstrate the full range of her strengths. Given the kind of introduction usually reserved for the likes of Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis as a camera runs up her back…it just hits differently when a Black woman is presented with such power.” —Stephen Saito, Variety
