40 Acres 2025 Movie Review
When I see movies that deal with some kind of post apocalyptic world or some future envisioning of what the world could end up like if we as a society don’t change are ways I get worried these things could actually happen. That’s the case with “40 Acres”. It’s similar in feeling in tone to The Walking Dead, without the zombies. More dealing with different races and militant groups who separated off into their own areas of the country and Canada. It’s definitely a prophetic look at what this country could end up, like if we’re not careful.
Hailey (Danielle Deadwyler, Till, The Woman in the Yard) her husband Galin, called “Mota” by his family (Michael Greyeyes, A Woman Walks Ahead) are the heads of a family that includes a few kids. One of them, Mannie (Kateem O’Connor), is a bit rebellious and likes a girl from another community. This causes problems for his group. As the burgeoning relationship between the young pair of hormone filled youths is a ploy to attack O’Connor ‘s characters’ farm and get all they have. That’s why his mother is so hard on him and his siblings. Their security is of the utmost importance to this hard edged woman.
Danielle Deadwyler is an actress who is having a bit of a career crescendo right now. She’s been in four movies, The Piano Lesson, Carry On, The Woman in the Yard, and now this one in the last six or so months. That’s a lot of production for any actor. She is very good here, as she often is, being the hard-nosed leader of this family in the near future. It seems like it could be any year now or right now if the past had changed a little bit. I could see this being our present. She just has this authority in everything she says and does. I definitely could believe she’d be in this role if this was actually happening in the country. Deadwyler is going to win some awards for her work in the future. It’s just a matter of time. She’s that good.
One of the things about these types of movies is how the director, RT Thorne, with the help of Laura Campbell, is writing the script, building out the world the film takes place in. Some of these kinds of movies don’t do a good job with that. This one one on the other hand, does. There are multiple ways the world is built out. A few of them are ham radio communication systems with other survivors. All the people in the other areas have call signs similar to 18-wheeler truck drivers.Their locations are their call signs. Such as Agusta or Canada or wherever. This is how they differentiate themselves on the radio. They make deals and set up trades this way as well. I thought this was a fascinating way to survive in a possible post-apocalyptic future like this one.
The key inviting incident in the story is when the O’Connor character goes out foraging for food and useful supplies, and he sees the beautiful girl Dawn played by (Milcania Diaz Rojas )swimming. Eventually, they become friends and live interests with one another. It’s a shame these two couldn’t actually be interested in each other for the right reasons. The story takes them to different places because of the things going on with the Rojad character. I won’t spoil those here. You have to see the movie to see what I’m talking about. I just feel like this was a very manipulative to do regarding the script. I wish there could have been a better way to go regarding the overall story. All is fare in love and war in a post-apocalyptic future, I guess.
With a survival film set in a near post-apocalyptic future, the way these men and women choose to survive is pretty obvious. They have an ammunition store in a secluded place in their compound. They have plenty of guns with many rounds, grenades, and other types of explosives they can use. These are pretty typical warfare supplies. Other than these, they use fighting skills with knives and hand to hand combat. These people are prepared for any eventual scenario that might come up. This is where the story is supposed to go, and these scenes didn’t let me down. The action was pretty good and very realistic, considering where the story was headed.
40 Acres is very realistic to the times we live in this country. Militias are popping up everywhere if they don’t already exist. Farms and so forth were and are going to be valuable in a world where food isn’t being produced anymore. Those who don’t have food and a way to hunt or create food in some way as in growing it are in trouble. Trading is a smart way to go about getting things you don’t have. Some people don’t have that kind of time or patience, so they try and take what they want. That’s where this story is so intelligently written. It is very believable in many ways. Thorne and Campbell do a great job bringing this story to life. Dwadwyler and the rest of the cast are very good in this survival story. It’s a stark look at what could be coming our way if we don’t get out and act together as a country. This is a must-see film for many reasons.
