July 1, 2025
by Carla Hay

Directed by R.T. Thorne
Culture Representation: Taking place in Canada, the dramatic film “40 Acres” features a racially diverse cast of characters (black, white, Latin and Native American) who are survivors of an apocalypse.
Culture Clash: In a famine -plagued world where some humans are cannibals, a former military soldier orders her family not to trust any strangers, but her son defies those orders when he secretly helps a woman who hides in the family’s barn.
Culture Audience: “40 Acres” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of well-acted movies about how people live with a “survival of the fittest” mentality in an apocalyptic world.

The apocalyptic drama “40 Acres” does not have as much thrilling action as some viewers might expect. Instead, the movie impressively shows how isolationism affects a farm-dwelling family and how mistrust can be either a shield or psychological poison. There are some horror elements in “40 Acres” but it’s not completely a horror movie.
Written and directed by R.T. Thorne, “40 Acres” is Thorne’s feature-film directorial debut. “40 Acres” had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie takes place in an unnamed area of Canada and was filmed in the Canadian province of Ontario.
At the beginning of “40 Acres,” it’s explained that a pandemic that began 15 years ago has lead to widespread famine. Food has become more valuable than ever before. That’s why the members of the Freeman family, who are at the center of the story, know that they are always at risk because they live on a fertile farm and are not starving for foor. Making matters worse in this apocalypse, some people have become cannibals, who are called “flesh eaters” in the movie.
These are the members of this tight-knit farm clan:
- Hailey Freeman (played by Danielle Deadwyler) is a former military soldier who is the family’s leader who expects everyone on the family to be ready and able to use the arsenal of weapons (including several guns) that they have on the farm. She treats the family like a military unit and orders them not to trust strangers. If any trespassers on their property, Hailey’s attitude is like to the be “Shoot first. Ask question later.”
- Emmanuel, nicknamed Manny (played by Kataem O’Connor), is Hailey’s eldest child. Manny is in his early-to-mid-20s and is starting to question Hailey’s strict ways. Naturally, this leads to Manny and Hailey clashing over various issues.
- Danis (played by Jaeda LeBlanc) is Hailey’s middle child. Danis is in her mid-teens is occasionally torn between following Hailey’s orders and being more of a free-thinking individual like her older brother Manny. Danis and Manny have the same biological father, who is deceased and not seen in the movie.
- Cookie (played by Haile Amare) is Hailey’s youngest child. Cookie is about 10 years and is very obedient. She is curious about life outside the farm, but Cookie knows that she’s too young to do anything that could put her family’s safety at risk.
- Galen (played by Michael Greyeyes) is Hailey’s romantic partner and the biological father of Cookie. If Hailey is he general of the family, Galen is Hailey’s loyal lieutenant general. Galen is more laid-back than Hailey, but he will not hesitate to scold any of the children if they get out of line.
- Raine (played by Leenah Robinson), who is in her late teens, is Galen’s biological daughter from a previous relationship. Raine’s biological mother is deceased. As the second-oldest child in this blended family, Raine is eager to be given the same responsibilities that Manny has, but Hailey thinks Raine will be suitable only after Raine learns how to “follow directions.”
Flashbacks reveal that the tension between Hailey and Manny go back long before the apocalypse. For a period of time, up until Manny was about 6 or 7 years old (played by Jacob Gabriel), Manny was raised by Hailey’s father Felix Freeman (played by Tyrone Benskin), because Hailey was too busy with her military career. One of the flashbacks shows Hailey going to see Manny at Felix’s house, and Manny has to be told who Hailey is because he doesn’t know her.
Early on in the movie, the family members fend of an attack from flesh eaters, who invade the property and are killed off in a corn field by the family using sniper tactics. Hailey communicates by CB radio with a woman named Augusta Taylor (played by Elizabeth Saunders), who is a friend from Hailey’s past. August warns Hailey that roaming flesh eaters have been on the attack and are getting closer to where Hailey and her family live.
Later in the movie, Manny finds a stranger hiding in the family barn. Her name is Dawn (played by Milcania Diaz-Rojas), and she says she is looking for the Freeman family and that she means no harm. Manny doesn’t tell her right away that he’s in the Freeman family, but he doesn’t treat like an enemy either. Manny and Dawn seem to be immediately attracted to each other, which is why Manny does what he’s under orders not to do: He trusts this stranger and decides to keep her hidden in the barn. The movie shows what happens after Manny makes this decision.
Meanwhile, the family is on edge because of the flesh eaters who could show up at any moment. Dialogue in the movie reveals that many of the flesh eaters are white supremacists who specifically target people who aren’t white to be the cannibals’ murder victims. This racial tension (all of the people in the Freeman family are people of color) is an emotionally charged but not overstated aspect of the story, which presents this tension as getting worse because of the famine.
In a director’s statement, Thorne said: “The film’s title, ’40 Acres,’ refers to the historic promise of land ownership made by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman on January 16, 1865, to formerly enslaved Black farmers. The promise, backed by the Federal government, was to grant 40 acres of farmland and a mule to freed enslaved people of African descent. However, this promise was tragically reversed during the Reconstruction era, denying the Black community once again. Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of generational African American farmers who settled in Canada after the Civil War. In a world that has imploded, the land they live on represents their legacy, freedom, and heritage.”
Some suspension of disbelief is required in “40 Acres” because it’s hard to believe that the Freeman’s plentiful farm hasn’t been discovered and raided already. Although the movie has no signs of modern communication, such as the Internet or phone service, word of mouth would travel fast about the type of farm where the Freeman family lives. The farm is isolated but it’s still fairly accessible because it has no protective walls or borders.
“40 Acres” sometimes has slow pacing, which is offset by bursts of action scenes involving battles. And although Deadwyler capably handles the role of Hailey, at times scowling and uptight Hailey becomes a little to one-note. O’Connor, as Emmanuel/Manny has the most complex role in the movie, because he’s torn between his family’s custom of trusting no o one outside of the family and a new lifestyle that he wants to try: trusting strangers on a case-by-case, individual basis.
Although the a few of the scenarios in “40 Acres” are a tad unrealistic, the performances from the principal cast members are believable. The movie offers plenty of food for thought about the pros and cons of isolationism in apocalyptic circumstances. Many of the themes in “40 Acres” also apply to the real world and invite viewers to ponder if extreme separatism does more harm than good.
Magnolia Pictures will release “40 Acres” in U.S. cinemas on July 2, 2025. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in U.S. cinemas on June 16 and June 19, 2025.