There's a big focus on post-apocalypse media lately (not a surprise when the world seems to be hellbent on getting to that point), and whilst a lot of these stories throw in some vaguely fantastical element, such as the undead, a rage virus, or fungus zombies, 40 Acres instead takes a much more subdued and realistic approach to the end of the world. The result of this is a film that might feel less overtly bleak or fatalistic than others, it's one where when the awful things do start to begin they hit all the harder because it's not monsters that these people need to fear, but very real, very familiar violence.
40 Acres tells the story of the Freeman family, headed up by Hailey (Danielle Deadwyler), and her husband Galen (Michael Greyeyes), who met whilst serving as soldiers years before. A number of years ago, a fungal spore spread across the world, affecting crops and plants the world over. This resulted in mass starvation, war, and civilisation falling apart as farmable land became the most valuable resource. Hailey and Galen have an isolated farm in Canada, where they live with their children, Emmanuel (Kateem O'Connor), and Raine (Leenah Robinson), who Hailey and Galen brought together from previous relationships respectively; and Danis (Jaeda LaBlanc) and Cookie (Haile Amare), who they had together.
With their farmland a valuable resource, and their only means to survive, Hailey and Galen has used their military training to secure the farm, and to raise their four children to be fighters. Despite this ability to survive, demonstrated with a brutal opening sequence showing what happens when raiders come to call, their life leaves them isolated and alone. Whilst Hailey is content with this, needing only the infrequent interaction with a friend over the radio, her son Emmanuel has reached the age where he needs other people.
When news hits the Freeman's that some of the surrounding farms inside their trading network have gone silent, and that a roving gang of cannibals might be to blame, the family must come together to defend what they have. But when Emmanuel discovers a beautiful young woman just outside their fence, asking for help, it sets the entire family on a dangerous path.
As the name of the film implies, 40 Acres is slightly more than just a post apocalypse home invasion story. Following the American Civil War, freed Black slaves were promised 40 acres of land and a mule as a form of reparation for how they were treated. This promise was largely a lie, and is part of a larger system of failed promises, broken systems, and outright cruelty that have been used to target people of colour in the US. With the name of the film in mind, it's easy to also spot that the vast majority of the film's cast are people of colour, with the Freeman family being of both Black and Canadian Native descent. In contrast, every single one of the raiders and cannibals who appear in the film is white, with the only good white person being Hailey's friend.
The film isn't overtly about racism or colonisation, but the themes are very much there. The people we're watching are suffering at the hands of brutalist white people, who've come for their land and resources, and will literally use up these people's bodies to keep themselves going, treating them as little more than meat to be consumed. I think writer/director R.T. Thorne made a very deliberate choice in this, and to toss many of the racist stereotypes that were used against Black and brown people over the centuries back onto the white oppressors. The white man is the one that is violent, that eats humans, that doesn't want to build their own society but will come and invade yours. I can't help but feel that 40 Acres has a lot to say, and that much smarter people than myself will be able to watch the film and pick out all kind of nuance and clever details that I certainly missed.
Outside of the themes of the film, 40 Acres is a damn fine film. The Freeman family makes for interesting protagonists, and watching their dynamic and the cracks that form from that makes the film very engaging. You can't argue that Hailey and Galen have kept their family alive by raising them like soldiers, but you can also see how it's creating some divisions, such as Raine not being allowed to read a certain book because she wasn't told to read it, or Emmanuel being a young man with no chance of finding love because he's never allowed to leave. The family dynamics have no clear right or wrong, as you can see why the parents have done what they've done and approve of some of it, whilst also understanding why the children are pushing back.
The cast present this wonderfully, particularly Danielle Deadwyler and Kateem O'Connor, whose mother son relationship is the central piece of the film. Each of them delivers strong performances, with Deadwyler being the stand out as an incredibly intense mother who you'd never want to cross. She brings intense grit and determination to the role, and you believe that she used to be a soldier; yet despite this you can also see a large amount of both love and guilt shining through. The film touches upon a troubled past between Hailey and her son, giving us a couple of flashbacks that informs a lot of their relationship with very little, and it makes you re-evaluate much of what you've seen between the two of them.
40 Acres doesn't try to break the post-apocalypse mould, and a lot of what you get here you'll have experienced before; but I also feel that it's not trying to do this. Instead, it's telling a familiar story through a different lens. It has interesting themes and commentary that can be largely overlooked in favour of a fairly by the numbers movie that will still entertain, or it can be examined in greater depth to give viewers an experience that sets it aside from others in the genre. How much you get from the film will depend on you to a certain extent, but if you go in willing to see more, and to learn, 40 Acres becomes a wonderfully inventive and memorable addition to the genre.
40 Acres is in UK cinemas now, and available to download digitally today.
