The post-apocalypse genre has almost exclusively been a white fantasy, with real life doomsday preppers occupying the American consciousness as a mostly rural caucasian phenomenon. Bunkers, guns, food stockpiling on a farm… these images in popular culture have been consistently portrayed as a certain type of person in a certain type of class, and the stories allow white people to imagine what would happen if they were to lose everything. A fantasy that used to seem far fetched, but the further into the millennium it becomes more and more plausible.
That fantasy has been generally one-sided. Black and indigenous people don’t have to fantasize about the apocalypse; their apocalypse has already happened through slavery and genocide, stripping not only lives away but culture and history. What is unimaginable to some of America is just a fabric of the marginalized existence.
40 Acres is a post-apocalypse story centered on black and indigenous American characters and experiences, and flexes well worn tropes in this genre through a fresh point of view. How would someone react to the apocalypse if they have already lived through their own?
The name 40 Acres comes from “forty acres and a mule,” referring to a Civil War order to allot parcels of land to some freed families. The movie focuses on a blended family living on a farm after a fungus-based pandemic wiped out almost all animal life on the planet, causing famine and societal collapse, leading to society’s most prized possession becoming a farm. The family’s mother, Hailey Freedman (played by Danielle Deadwyler) is former military and runs her house as such. They function primarily as a matriarchal unit, with her acting as the general to her children (3 girls and the eldest teenage boy).
Most of the story is relatively simple and conventional, focusing on the mother-son relationship at the heart: the teenage boy wants to chart his own path in life (and meet girls), the militant mother’s traumatic past closes her in and makes her not trust others, and her strict protective nature clashes with his burgeoning adulthood. Maybe something happens that threatens the farms safety? Sounds familiar… but the strong point of view and quality filmmaking makes it shine.
The movie is beautiful to look at and the action is tight and inventive. Meanwhile, the texture of the storytelling makes everything feel lived in and authentic, such as taking time to pause at the dinner table and go over the kids history lessons, or letting the character interactions develop naturally before shocking violence erupts. Danielle Deadwyler is spectacular and the rest of the cast is no slouch and their dynamic feels authentic.
It’s hard to believe this is R. T. Thorne’s debut feature. It’s confident and assured, has a strong point of view that it clearly communicates, and has tight action, vibrant characters, and looks great. The fresh take on a post-apocalypse story is refreshing and feels essential in 2025. Watch out for 40 Acres.
