R.T. Thorne says debut film '40 Acres' inspired by 'existential fears' from pandemic

Randall Thorne, the director and co-writer of the film "40 Acres," poses for a photo at the 2024 TIFF press conference and festival kickoff in Toronto, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paige Taylor White

As the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life a few years ago, R.T. Thorne found himself facing "existential fears."

With the food supply chain disrupted and people stockpiling toilet paper, the Calgary-born director started questioning whether the world he knew was ever as stable as it seemed.

“If a sickness that we can't even control knocks us off our rocker like that, are we really that safe? Are we really that firm in what we know?” Thorne recalls wondering.

“So it started to make me think, ‘Can I provide for my kids if everything were to shut down? Can I grow food? Do I know how to do that? Can I protect them?”

Thorne says those uncertainties were key inspirations for his debut film “40 Acres,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this week.

The post-apocalyptic thriller centres on Hailey Freeman, an ex-military matriarch played by Danielle Deadwyler who leads her family in a future ravaged by famine. Faced with the threat of a ruthless band of cannibals intent on overtaking their farm, she clashes with her son Emanuel, played by Toronto’s Kataem O'Connor, on the best way to survive a crumbling world.

“At its heart, it's a mother and son story,” says Thorne, who cut his teeth directing music videos for artists including Sean Paul and Keshia Chanté before creating 2020 sci-fi series “Utopia Falls” and helming 2022 period drama “The Porter,” both of which aired on CBC.

“It’s a thriller that's about two different ideologies of how to move forward in a family.”

While Hailey believes her family’s safety depends on complete isolation, Emanuel craves connection, eager to explore the world outside their farm after encountering a young woman from a nearby homestead, played by Toronto-born Milcania Diaz-Rojas.

Thorne and co-writer Glenn Taylor weave the dystopian survival story together with a metaphor for the complex history of land ownership in North America. Hailey is a descendant of a Black family of farmers who settled in Canada after the American Civil War, while her partner, Michael Greyeyes’ Galen, is Indigenous.

“I wanted to make a story about a family I've never seen on screen before. It’s a blended Black and Indigenous family,” says Thorne.

“I think there are so many stories in Canada that can be told.”

Thorne says “40 Acres” draws on several current political and economic challenges, from racial inequality to food insecurity to Indigenous land rights.

“We've been in this space for almost a decade where socially there have been a lot of things that have been happening in the world that are causing a lot of people worry,” he says.

“Hopefully (we can) put these ideas out there and let people contemplate it, but take them for a little ride as well.”

Thorne says his film has been eight years in the making and premiering it at TIFF has been a “dream come true.”

“I've been coming to this festival for over 20 years as a film lover, just seeing amazing films that just rocked my world,” he says.

"I'm honoured to be able to come here and have my debut film at the festival that I love.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2024.