Danielle Deadwyler is in survival mode in 40 Acres—and this time, she’s not just fighting for her family. She’s fighting for legacy, land, and the last piece of humanity left in a dying world. Magnolia Pictures just dropped the first trailer for the genre-bending, post-apocalyptic action-thriller, confirming the film will hit theaters nationwide on July 2, 2025.
Starring Deadwyler, Kataem O’Connor, Michael Greyeyes, and Milcania Diaz-Rojas, 40 Acres takes place in a brutal near-future where a plague has wiped out all animal life and famine has brought the world to its knees. Governments have crumbled, society is in ruins, and survival has become the only law left standing. But on their ancestral land in rural Canada, the Freemans—descendants of Black farmers who settled there after the American Civil War—have managed to carve out something resembling peace.
Deadwyler plays Hailey Freeman, a former soldier who made the hard choice long ago: isolate her family, arm them, and teach them to survive by any means necessary. Alongside her partner Galen (Greyeyes), she’s raised her children to defend their home from the raiding parties and lawless militias that now roam the wild. But the cost of survival is catching up.
In the trailer, we see that her eldest son Emanuel (O’Connor) is now coming of age—and coming undone. When he encounters a mysterious young woman (Diaz-Rojas) beyond the safety of their land, his desire for connection cracks open everything Hailey has worked to preserve.
And the threat on the other side of the fence? It’s not just another gang of raiders. The trailer teases something darker—more organized, more violent, and maybe even cannibalistic.
Directed by R.T. Thorne in his feature debut, 40 Acres is co-written by Thorne, Glenn Taylor from a story by Thorne and Lora Campbell. The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was named one of Canada’s Top 10 films of the festival, and will make its U.S. premiere at SXSW before the theatrical rollout.
Also starring Leenah Robinson, Jaeda LeBlanc, Haile Amare, Elizabeth Saunders, and Tyrone Benskin, 40 Acres was produced by Jennifer Holness of Hungry Eyes Media and made under the SAG-AFTRA interim agreement during the 2023 strikes.
The film was backed by Telefilm Canada, CMF – PPRC, NOHFC, Crave, Ontario Creates, and CBC, and was produced in association with 4T Productions Inc., Fela, and Backhome. Executive producers include Taj Critchlow, Sudz Sutherland, John Lang, Mark Gingras, Andrew Frank, R.T. Thorne, and Danielle Deadwyler.
If you’ve been asking for bold, original films that don’t play by the usual rules, 40 Acres fits the bill. It’s tense, it’s timely, and it looks like nothing else dropping this summer.
Magnolia Pictures will release 40 Acres in theaters July 2. Watch the official trailer above.