Sound of Freedom is a disturbing film from the USA. It narrates the seemingly true story of the trafficking of children ring operating on both North and South American continents.
It is based on a real-life person named Tim Ballard and depicts his life incidents, wherein he has rescued innocent children from the clutches of human traffickers.
Trailer of the Sound of Freedom (2023) film
Synopsis (summary) of the Sound of Freedom (2023) film
It shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) learns that the boy’s sister is still a captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.
Thus, it is an incredible true story of a former US government agent Tim turned vigilante. So, in this film, Tim embarks on a dangerous mission to rescue hundreds of children from traffickers.
Spoilers free review of the Sound of Freedom (2023) film
The introduction
To be honest, when we selected this movie to watch, we picked it as we thought that this would be an action-packed thriller. We assumed that its action hero Jim Caviezel (as Tim) would go on to dismantle the dirty but thriving business of child trafficking. And maybe teach lessons to associated paedophiles by destroying them. But, sadly that did not happen.
Instead, its makers have served a movie with a flat and predictable storyline. It fails to elicit any kind of strong reactions. Then we learnt that Tim Ballard personally insisted that Jim Caviezel play him in this film, against the producers’ wishes. Perhaps it was done because both Tim and Jim share similar views and political ideologies.
Maintains authenticity
Also, we liked the fact that this film uses the Spanish language, too. This lends authenticity to its story which takes place in South American nations. In addition, we also loved the haunting background music of the film. Not to forget the Official Anthem of the motion picture, which is good. Its lyrics go like this – “We, God’s children, are not for sale…”
The ensemble cast was good
In this sensitive tale about child trafficking, we were not impressed with Jim Caviezel’s acting. Even, the talented Mira Sorvino (Katherine Ballard) role seemed underwhelming and underutilized. The rest of the cast members have done well – Bill Camp (Vampiro), Javier Godino (Jorge), José Zúñiga (Roberto), Yessica Borroto Perryman (Katy), etc. Especially the two child actors – Cristal Aparicio (Rocío) and Lucás Ávila (Miguel) have shone in it.
The conclusion
Despite, some of the obvious drawbacks and controversies, it is an okay movie to watch. To be honest, this film must be commended for handling a difficult subject like a child trafficking issue in the modern era. Therefore, it was a hard movie to watch for us. The following lines are about trafficking and slavery from the pre-credit scene after this film’s ending highlighting the grave subject matter, that needs urgent and immediate attention.
Human Trafficking is a 150 billion dollar-a-year business. The United States is one of the top destinations for human trafficking and is among the largest consumers of child sex. There are more humans trapped in the slavery today than any other time in history – including when slavery was legal. Millions of these slaves are children.
These texts appear after the film ends | Sound of Freedom
FM rating of this 2023 film from the USA
| FM”s rating | 3.25/5 |
| FM’s short comment | It deals with a very important but less talked about issue of child trafficking in the USA, but the conspiracy theories undermine it. |
Poster of this 2023 film from the USA
Key details of this 2023 film from the USA
| Genre | Crime, Drama, Thriller |
| Original languages | English (USA) & Spanish |
| Age-restrictions | UA (13+) |
| Released in | July 2023 |
| Duration | 2 hours 11 minutes |
| Writers | Rod Barr & Alejandro Monteverde |
| Director | Alejandro Monteverde |
| Cast | Jim Caviezel (Tim Ballard), Mira Sorvino (Katherine), Bill Camp (Vampiro), Javier Godino (Jorge), José Zúñiga (Roberto), Cristal Aparicio (Rocío), Lucás Ávila (Miguel), Yessica Borroto Perryman (Katy), etc. |
| Taglines | Based on the incredible true story. Break the silence. Save the children. |
| Distributor | Angel Studios |
Rather, interestingly. this film is one of the biggest hits in recent times earning $ 180 million at the US box office. In fact, this film became the highest-grossing indie film since 2019’s Parasite film from Korea. And since then quite a few reputed news sources have credited its links with the QAnon conspiracy theories for its success.
Featured Image and Poster of Sound of Freedom (2023) film | Angel Studios.
