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Cinematographer Jeremy Benning - providing some of the most gracious details in the Canadian farmland surrounding director R.T. Thorne’s (Blindspot, The Porter) film - knows how to lens the apocalypse, grafting each blade of grass with poetry and passion.  Even as Hell descends upon it. 

40 Acres, tense and chilling to the bone, is also one hell of a beauty contest when it comes to cinematic landscapes as Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler), eleven years after a famine made land the most valuable commodity, stands her ground against all sorts of intruders.  The post-apolyptic thriller is wild as Gen. William T. Sherman’s Civil War land promise to Black Americans becomes the premise for all those who dare to trespass on Freeman’s property.

While it might be a bit too on the nose at times, 40 Acres - as cannibalism takes root in the populace - definitely flexes hard against all the white intruders descending upon the land which Freeman and her Indigenous partner Galen (Michael Greyeyes) defend the land that has been in their family since the Civil War ended, enlisting their children Emanuel (Kataem O’Connor), Raine (Leenah Robinson), Danis (Jaeda LeBlanc), and Cookie (Haile Amare) to help when and where they can.

And they force the intruders off their land with constant patrols, ATVs, lots of guns, reviews of their own weaknesses, electric fencing, and so on.  But is it ever enough to stop the constant stream of trespassers in this unexpected future?  The famine isn’t stopping anytime soon and neither are those intent on taking their home.

And yet they fight.  Both bloody and brilliant at times, 40 Acres is full of new ideas and a fresh take on some classic home invasion situations.

Starring Danielle Deadwyler (Till, I Saw The TV Glow, Carry-On), Kataem O'Connor (Murdoch Mysteries, Time Cut, Heartland), and Michael Greyeyes (The King Tide, 1923, Wild Indian), the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year to rave reviews from critics. 

The film is directed by R.T. Thorne, who brings over 20 years experience in directing to the production, and while 40 Acres is his feature debut, with a script he co-wrote with Glenn Taylor, and a story by Thorne and Lora Campbell (#Interns, Yoga 101), the film feels confident in style and substance and delivers a message worth remembering as our own world teeters on the edge of all sensibility.

Vertigo Releasing  will be releasing the post-apocalyptic thriller 40 Acres on August 1st.

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 113 mins
Director: R.T. Thorne
Writer: R.T. Thorne
Cast: Danielle Deadwyler; Kataem O'Connor; Michael Greyeyes
Genre: Action | Thriller
Tagline: Get Off Our Land
Memorable Movie Quote: 
Distributor: Vertigo Releasing
Official Site:
Release Date: August 1, 2025
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world with food scarcity, a Black family of Canadian farmers descended from American Civil War migrants defend their homestead against cannibals trying to seize their resources.