The Reel Review
Thriving on a sustenance farm in a remote stretch of Canada after an apocalyptic series of plagues and wars, a former soldier and her family, descendants of U.S. Civil War-era slaves, make a last stand against a militia trying to kill them and seize their land after her oldest son, desperate for human contact, meets a young woman in the nearby forest. Danielle Deadwyler, Kataem O’Connor and Michael Greyeyes star in this dystopian, neo-Western thriller.
Deadwyler (Carry-on, Till) carries the film as the badass matriarch of the family who blends tough-love motherhood with survivalist discipline, aided by an engaging ensemble cast and some remarkably impressive direction and blocking from first time co-writer/director R.L. Thorne.
The plot – a horned-up son risking the lives of his family in the hopes of getting a possible girlfriend – feels like a plot twist from The Walking Dead, but clever, taut pacing makes the low-budget 40 Acres one of the more entertaining dystopian thrillers in recent years.
REEL FACTS
• 40 Acres is the screenwriting debut of R.T. Thorne, Glenn Taylor and Lora Campbell and Thorne’s film directorial debut.
• 40 Acres was an Audience Award nominee at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.
• 40 Acres was filmed in Sunbury, Ontario.
Video & Photo
