There is a good chance that if Danielle Deadwyler was actually faced with an apocalypse, she’d be able to navigate the chaos of it all with the same poise that she does in “40 Acres.”
At least, her latest resolute-yet-vulnerable performance certainly makes the case for it. Alongside the great Michael Greyeyes, she gives this post-apocalyptic family drama a sense of gravity just as she is able to leap into action when bloody battles ensue.
Though Deadwyler has already gained acclaim for her work on everything from “Till” to this year’s “The Piano Lesson,” “40 Acres” lets her flex other genre muscles while never missing a step in her acting. Even as she’s been outstanding in the series “Station Eleven,” which was also about the end of the world, this newest project is more confined while still having plenty to chew on about civilization’s collapse.
Specifically, it’s a film about historical dispossession, the way this echoes into a potential future crisis, and what it takes to survive in a harsh world. Is there room for community and care when everyone is at each other’s throats in what was already a painful existence? Perhaps just as importantly, can Deadwyler take down a pack of goons with guns? The first question remains the main point of thematic tension with no easy answers as we follow a family struggling to find a way forward together. The second can be answered clearly: you bet your ass she can.
The film, which premiered Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival, takes place in a future Canada where everything has crumbled. An opening introduction of text informs us that plagues and wars have forever upended the world, making farmland more valuable than ever as food is scarce. That’s why the Freemans keep to themselves, tending to land that has been in their family for generations. Hailey (Deadwyler) is a veteran and tough matriarch who is keeping everyone together, but she does so while holding the rest of the world at bay. Though she puts on a strong face for her children, we can see how this takes a toll on her as she listens to radio broadcasts from struggling people while drinking alone. In Deadwyler’s eyes, we see many lifetimes of pain and struggle that have hardened into a shell Hailey rarely lets down. While “40 Acres” can be shaky in its dialogue and staging, it’s her performance that keeps it moving.
Alongside Hailey is Galen (Greyeyes) who helps to train their children to repel attackers — which they do as a killer team in an efficient opening action sequence that leaves no survivors. This rattles the eldest son Emanuel (Kataem O’Connor), who begins to wander out into the world beyond their fence, discovering unexpected connection along with danger. When danger then comes knocking at the family’s home, they’re forced to question what they have built just as they must fight harder than ever to prevent it from being torn apart.
As helmed by writer-director R.T. Thorne, who is making his feature debut after primarily working in television, the premise is merely a means by which to explore greater questions about family, history and loss. Whatever is lost in world-building is gained in the greater complexity devoted to character.
For Hailey and Galen, a Black woman and an Indigenous man, this is not the first time they’ve faced threats from those who wish to take everything from them. This informs all of the ways that they engage with the world, with Deadwyler and Greyeyes each giving humanity to the duo through the smallest of details. It isn’t just in the training to defend their home, but in the little rituals they’ve created for themselves in order to remain connected emotionally despite their isolation.
Greyeyes, a perpetually underrated performer who’s been great in everything from the fraught film “Wild Indian” to the regrettably canceled sitcom “Rutherford Falls,” brings plenty of humor and heart to Galen. Not only would “40 Acres” make a fun double feature with the actor’s previous film “Blood Quantum,” but it sees him handling similarly rich thematic material. We feel all of Galen’s fear just as we do his fortitude, with him getting the best action scene of the film.
There aren’t many surprises lurking in the darkness of “40 Acres,” though. At multiple points, characters will seem most certainly down and out with no way to survive, only for someone else to intervene at the last second. It’s very much an action movie standby that the film leans heavily on, making it nearly buckle under the weight that it puts on it. What ensures it still gets up and keeps moving are the rest of the pieces of the film. Yes, the performances are all great, but it’s also the way that Thorne is patient in how he lets them work. Whenever it feels like the film might not be able to overcome the genre tropes that it starts to dance around, his willingness to let everything else breathe provides much-needed exhales.
When things get bloody and violent, the filmmaker doesn’t hold back as the grim prospect of cannibals grows increasingly present, though there are also plenty of more quiet moments, as well. And even as the world and movie writ large may fall into chaos, Deadwyler is undeniable once more. She fights for every inch of the film’s emotional ground and comes away with it all in her hands.
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