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MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Sound of Freedom is this summer’s surprise box-office hit. A modestly budgeted movie marketed as a faith-based true story, it has sold over $160 million in tickets – more than Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.

The film’s tagline is “God’s children are not for sale” and its real-life hero is Tim Ballard (Caviezel), who followed up a career with Homeland Security to launch Operation Underground Railroad (or O.U.R.), a non-profit organization to fight child sex trafficking.

The movie begins with two scenes that are uncomfortable to watch. In the first episode (which takes place in Honduras) Roberto is approached by a former beauty queen and talent scout who encourages him to take his two children, Miguel and Rocío, into the city for a preliminary fashion shoot and a possible career in child modeling. After a bus trip into town, he leaves his two kids for the photo session (which is creepily depicted as sexualized). Roberto later returns in the evening to find a deserted room; his children along with dozens of others, have been abducted.

We then move to California, where Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard is going undercover to catch a pedophile. Naturally, he has to pretend to show interest in child pornography to catch his prey. (Ugh.) This particular chain of events leads Ballard to arrest a man who has purchased a child – who is none other than Miguel. The little boy is missing his sister and gives Ballard his sister’s Saint Timothy medal. Investigative work uncovers that Rocío and dozens of other children are now in Columbia.

Ballard shares this information with his wife Katherine (Mira Sorvino), whose is empathetic with the plight of children and sends him away on this mission with her blessing. The remainder of the movie depicts the elaborate scheme to rescue the children while also entering the dangerous world of drug cartels and sex traffickers.

Although I found many aspects of this “true story” rather ludicrous, it is sincere and heartfelt enough, with solid acting and decent filmmaking. However, there are some serious ethical concerns associated with this film that I feel must be shared:

Shameless Promotion. The film is distributed by Angel Studios, a Christian film company that has used crowdfunding to produce The Chosen (an international streaming series that retells the story of Jesus) and other faith-based entertainment. However, Sound of Freedom is not a film that Angel Studios has produced, but a movie that was completed two years ago. All of the crowdfunding for this movie was raised for distribution and publicity. Angel Studios not only persuaded churches to purchase group tickets to guarantee a big opening weekend, but adds a talk by Jim Caviezel during the closing credits encouraging the audience to “pay it forward”, donating money so that Angel Studios can distribute free tickets to more viewers.

Cultural Appropriation. I am sure that there are many who approve of Tim Ballard’s efforts to fight child sex trafficking but consider his “Operation Underground Railroad” to be an insensitive appropriation of Harriet Tubman’s campaign to liberate slaves during the Civil War. Lest we miss this connection, in Caviezel’s closing credit talk he also says “I think we can make Sound of Freedom the Uncle Tom's Cabin of 21st century slavery.”

Other controversies. Jim Caviezel is known to publicly endorse QAnon conspiracy theories connected to child trafficking. One of Sound of Thunder’s many patrons (there were over 1000) was recently charged with felony child kidnapping.

In summation, Sound of Freedom is a well-made film about an important topic. While I cannot personally recommend it, I can respect those who find it to be more than relevant to people of faith. In these divided times of ours, there is certainly no reason to cause a stir over popular entertainment, especially a movie that shines a light on an important topic.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Three halos: An impassioned cry against child trafficking is sincerely but awkwardly told.
Four pitchforks: Child abduction, child pornography, child prostitution, and pedophiles; occasional strong profanity; violence, including death; emotional abuse of children; alcohol and tobacco use; drug cartels.

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