40 Acres represents the best qualities of Canadian cinema. R.T. Thorne’s outstanding survival thriller is enormously entertaining with taut and rhythmic tension, but the movie also pitches hauntingly beautiful scenery (a near-future dystopia using Northern Ontario as a backdrop) and a metaphorical vision about land being usurped from minorities.

The blockbuster hit A Quiet Place was a sensory experience for audiences to perceive the stark hopelessness of an apocalypse through silences. In comparison, 40 Acres offers movie goers a perspective of a life that follows a similar disaster. For Hailey (Danielle Deadwyler) and Galen (Michael Greyeyes), ritualistic routines are the key to their family’s survival; and they all find a way to cope together. The world hasn’t recovered from a famine, and owning land is a necessity for longevity in these dire times. Our primary family has to constantly fight off a militia who are looking for a new base – strangers who have also grown ravenous for human flesh. The curiousity of the eldest son, Emanuel (Kataem O’Connor), has enabled him to examine other camps around his sanctuary. Hailey, while not as investigative, keeps tabs within the community through radio frequencies with people she’ll, most likely, never see again. That disconnection isn’t of interest to Emanuel, as he builds a new friendship with a nearby survivor (Milcania Diaz-Rojas).

Thorne, in one hell of a feature filmmaking debut, spreads his focus evenly with nary a missed beat. The heart of the story and its characters is just as important as action-packed sequences of survival. The pin holding both angles together is the relationship between Hailey and Galen. Their chemistry is sweet as they find moments to appreciate each other’s company when they temporarily shed their protective demeanours. Deadwyler, adding another strong mother figure to her resume after The Woman in the Yard and I Saw The TV Glow, makes a fantastic heroine that the audience can believe in; and her supporting cast are just as memorable.

40 Acres is a knockout from R.T, Thorne, an up-and-coming feature filmmaker who could be the next big Canadian breakout for the industry since Director X (Across The Line).

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