The end of the world has been done before, but not quite like this.

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In 40 Acres, writer-director R.T. Thorne tears through the post-apocalyptic genre with something we don’t see nearly enough: a story about Black and Indigenous survival told on its own terms, rooted in family, pride, and history.

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Yes, there are cannibals. Yes, the world has collapsed into hunger and depravity. But underneath all that blood and ash is something much more powerful, political, and timely.

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Set in a near-future where a fungal pandemic has wiped out most animal life and shattered the global food chain, 40 Acres opens with violence. Raiders stalk a remote farm in rural Canada – until they’re swiftly and mercilessly dispatched. The killers? The Freemans. This is their land. And they’re not giving it up without a fight.

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If that sounds like the premise of a classic Western, it is in parts, but Thorne’s unique voice helps to elevate most of those trappings. 

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Danielle Deadwyler stars as Hailey Freeman, a hardened military vet turned matriarch whose great-great-grandfather escaped slavery in Georgia and founded the family farm nearly two centuries ago. Now, generations later, that farm is among the last pieces of fertile ground in a starving world. And Hailey will defend it – and her children – with everything she’s got.

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That includes Emanuel (Kataem O’Connor), her restless teenage son caught between boyhood and the burden of survival. When he meets a mysterious girl (Milcania Diaz-Rojas) bathing in a nearby stream, the stirrings of young love quickly become something much more dangerous.

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Thorne, best known until now for music videos, brings an incredible eye to his first feature. Think The Walking Dead with the haunting stillness of Alex Garland.

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Cinematographer Jeremy Benning captures a bleak landscape in gorgeous light and frame, and Todor Kobakov’s pulsing, metallic score echoes the tension of Reznor/Ross. The film looks like prestige TV, but hits like a late-night genre gut-punch.

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The ensemble cast is tight, with standout work from Michael Greyeyes as Galen, Hailey’s partner, and Leenah Robinson as his daughter Raine – both bringing an Indigenous perspective that deepens the film’s themes of land, loss, and resistance against invaders. But this is Deadwyler and O’Connor’s film. Their performances are raw, lived-in, and weighty as hell. 

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Deadwyler wears her trauma like body armor. You can see the weight of war in every breath she takes. O’Connor, meanwhile, walks the tightrope between defiance and yearning – he’s a son who wants an authentic life, but knows he was raised for survival.

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If the film has a weak spot, it’s only that the terrain – both literal and narrative – feels a little familiar. Fungal plagues. Cannibal raiders. Isolated outposts. We’ve seen these signposts before. But they’ve never been done quite like this – and with so much to say. 

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40 Acres is a gritty, gore-soaked, post-apocalyptic vision of Black survival with political undercurrents to spare. It’s not for the squeamish, but it’s an unforgettable debut that puts Thorne on the map as a director with real vision and something urgent to say.

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If this is just the start of his filmography, look out. The only question is: what the heck do you do for an encore?