40 Acres

"40 Acres" is landing in theaters...when many moviegoers are going to opt for...big-budget spectacle. But for those looking for something more thought-provoking and less escapist, then "40 Acres" is there lurking in the background.

40 Acres continually finds clever ways to either subvert familiar story beats or to make them land with extra impact.

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.

Though R.T. Thorne’s dynamic siege thriller has some familiar moves, it is full of fresh ideas.

40 Acres is another post-apocalyptic survival thriller that fails to stand out in an oversaturated genre, even with the commendable intimate focus on family.

Despite the bleak setting, 40 Acres is a profoundly moving story of hope and human resilience.

It’s an intense and bleak film that adopts black and indigenous perspectives and applies them to traditional survival narrative tropes.

... there’s a rawness and layered meaning to everything within the film, catching the audience in the very razor wire that surrounds the central family until the credits roll, not even realizing how deeply the metaphor has cut them.

40 Acres is a bit of a small crawl, but the message is resoundingly clear. Deadwyler is magnificent and Greyeyes finally gets to sink his teeth into a role highlighting his strengths as a charismatic badass and deadpan comic player

A slam-dunk debut from first-time feature director R.T. Thorne with powerful characters, a tense plot, and a message about generational growth.