In theaters July 7
The Plot:
Based on true events, "Sound of Freedom" is the story of Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel), a former Homeland Security special agent who has devoted himself to fighting child sex trafficking and founded Operation Underground Railroad to rescue hundreds of minors around the globe.
Lynn’s Take:
Both grim and gripping, “Sound of Freedom” seeks to be part of a global movement to eradicate child sex trafficking by setting off a loud and clear alarm.
This difficult topic is filmed modestly as a real-world horror movie, and the no-frills production is unsettling from the get-go. Almost immediately, we’re plunged into the anguish of a single father after his 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son are lured away by a slick operator spinning showbiz dreams.
Because it is every parent’s nightmare, watching the trauma and terror is tough as the perverts, pedophiles, mercenaries, and international slave trade operators treat these children like commodities. However, filmmakers are sensitive when dealing with the kids, because it is an unspeakably awful gut-punch.
Director Alejandro Monteverde establishes well-drawn good vs. evil battlelines and keeps it simple with basic storytelling elements during the 2-hour, 10-minute runtime, framing it as a wider-scope procedural, like an extended “Magnum P.I.” or “FBI.” He visually depicts the hellish aspects of the captured kids’ lives with some restraint and amplifies the vile qualities of the perpetrators. Monteverde co-wrote the script with Rod Barr.
Jose Zuniga breaks your heart as Roberto, the duped dad desperate to find his young children, effectively played by Cristal Aparicio as darling Rocio and Lucas Avila as sweet Miguel. They are bamboozled by a glamorous con artist, “Gisselle” (Yessica Borroto Perryman), and instead of participating in a music competition, whisked away from Honduras to an unimaginable scenario in Mexico and Colombia.
Jim Caviezel fervently anchors the film as a compassionate Tim Ballard, who is frustrated by the limits of what he can do as a Homeland Security special agent. He has captured 280 pedophiles in his 12-year career, but has not freed as many kids, and that frustrates him.
To be more effective, he strikes out on his own. He first rescues the little boy and then embarks on a dangerous undercover journey into the Colombian jungle to find Miguel’s sister.
Caviezel plays Ballard as a strong, silent no-nonsense hero, balancing intensity and action in this role, barely disguising his disgust at what he’s seen, and the inexplicable lack of a moral compass in the people he’s surrounded by.
Oscar winner Mira Sorvino is seen briefly as Katherine Ballard, his wife and mother to their six children. In fine support, Bill Camp plays a colorful, crusty ex-patriate ally named Vampiro, and Javier Godino is helpful Jorge, a Colombian law enforcement official who also risks his life to help.
Caviezel, who played Jesus in the controversial 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ,” has been working in faith-based films in recent years and fervently presents a “special message” after the credits roll.
The actor indicates he is a man on a mission with this cause, committed to shed light in darkness. He makes an impassioned plea to rally as many people as possible to see the movie (a QR code to help ‘pay it forward’ for others).
The movie informs about Ballard’s work to cut through international red tape and make it easier for governments to work together. It taps into our empathy, emphasizing why we need to do more to shed light on this worldwide $150 billion-a-year sex trafficking business, and how most of the slave trade is minors.
Let that sink in: Child sex trafficking is the fasted growing international criminal network, and more people are enslaved now than when slavery was legal.
Angel Studio, known for its religious TV series “The Chosen,” is now the force behind “Sound of Freedom,” and the film has been labeled a conservative Christian project. But that shouldn’t matter, and it’s not necessary to share any alt-right or extreme viewpoints to support this film’s intentions. Who wouldn’t agree that these reprehensible criminals involved in sex trafficking need to be stopped and punished?
“Sound of Freedom” was filmed five years ago, and dropped by Disney after it acquired 20th Century Fox, which was originally the studio for it. Therefore, it has been quite an endeavor to get it out to theaters, and get it seen as an indie adult genre thriller surrounded by heavily marketed blockbusters. The people behind it are a passionate bunch.
The film’s endgame is hope, and it is sincere in its efforts/ Time will tell if the film is a clarion call. But at some point, someone needs to build this crusade further because the loss of innocence is a modern scourge.