Sound of Freedom (15)

Dir: Alejandro Monteverde

Cast: Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp

While there are flaws from a filmmaking perspective, ‘Sound of Freedom’ succeeds in raising awareness of its sensitive subject matter

When it comes to writing reviews on this blog, there are several things I take into account. These can range from the pure craft of the film itself, to its cultural impact and emotional impact on me personally. ‘Sound of Freedom’ makes it very difficult for me to stick to my usual conventions of reviewing a film, as it is not just a form of entertainment media, but also a campaign to raise awareness about a shockingly real world issue. As a result I have removed a star rating from this review, as it does not seem justified to give a mark out of five to a film which is not trying to be the best film it can be, but simply to bring attention to the horror that is child sex slavery, and the sheer scale of its presence throughout society.

The film is a semi-autobiographical account of Tim Ballard, an American anti-human trafficking activist. In 2013, Ballard founded Operation Underground Railroad, a non-profit anti-sex trafficking organisation. Ballard personally cast Jim Caviezel to play him in the movie after seeing his work in 2002’s The Count of Monte Cristo.

The film follows Ballard as he tries to rescue a Honduran brother and sister who have been kidnapped and sold into child sex slavery in South America. Without jurisdiction in Colombia, Ballard is forced to resign from Homeland Security to fulfil his mission in saving these children from such horrific crimes against humanity. There are some artistic liberties taken, but the central theme of slavery and human-trafficking is very much real, which can make ‘Sound of Freedom’ very difficult to watch at times. There is one harrowing sequence in particular, where real life footage shows several young children grabbed on the street and thrown into the back of unmarked white vans to be sold into slavery. This sets the tone for the film very early on as it is not afraid to show the true extent of these crimes, something that bigger Hollywood movies tend to shy away from.

As a small independent movie, ‘Sound of Freedom’ has faced several road blocks on its way to being released. As well as the Covid-19 pandemic which affected the movie industry as a whole, it also faced issues getting distribution due to its content. Whilst there is nothing overly graphic shown on screen, it is heavily implied, something which American production companies and distributors were unwilling to market. As a result the film has taken five years to hit the big screens, with the help of small Christian based movie production company Angel Studios. Without the money available to them to market the film in the traditional sense, Angel Studios started a pay-it-forward campaign. A message at the end of the film by Caviezel, urges viewers to buy an extra ticket “for someone who would not otherwise be able to see the film”, in attempt to raise awareness of child sex-slavery. This marketing approach has been a resounding success, and has seen ‘Sound of Freedom’ become one of the most successful independent films in history, grossing $184million against a modest budget of $14million.

While the film itself is flawed, with bizarre tonal shifts and underwhelmingly slow pacing, it manages to achieve what it has set out to do – raise awareness. Despite its issues as a film, there is no doubt that the film is a success when it comes to its marketing and just for that alone and the message it is trying to spread across the world, it is worth checking out.

See below, the link to the pay-it-forward page:

Pay it Forward for Sound of Freedom | Angel Studios

Sound of Freedom is now showing in UK Cinemas