Of all the evils that exist in the world, those that involve harming children are among the most grave. Tragically, the multi-billion dollar global child sex trafficking industry does this to millions of children each year, and still somehow flies under the radar of most mainstream media narratives.
Perhaps the most distressing part of this is none of us are very far removed from it. The State of Colorado is actually well-known as a hub for child sex trafficking due to the major highways that run through the cities. While it’s easy for the average person to feel helpless in making any kind of difference, the first step to combatting this travesty is awareness. Thankfully, the new film Sound of Freedom has stepped into the cultural spotlight to help bring more awareness to one of the most prevalent issues of our time.
Based on true events, the film stars Jim Caviezel of Passion of the Christ fame who portrays real-life pedophile hunter Tim Ballard, a Mormon husband and father of six children. Several years back, some media outlets told the story of how Ballard quit his job as a federal agent to execute rogue missions to different parts of the world and rescue children from sex traffickers. After five years of trying to get a wide release, rights to the movie were finally acquired by Angel Studios, best known for producing The Chosen streaming series, and it earned over $40 million during its opening week.
Aside from Ballard’s own incredible story, the narrative heart of the film lies with a Honduran father and his two children, who are lured into a child sex trafficking ring by a mysterious woman posing as a child modeling agent. The film follows Rocio and her younger brother Miguel, beautifully portrayed by Cristal Aparicio and Lucás Ávila, who are kidnapped and subjected to terrors that nobody — let alone any child — should ever be. The film is not necessarily graphic in its depiction of what these children have to endure, but its suggestive enough to warrant a reaction of heartbreak — and even righteous anger.
The film plays out like a real-life Indiana Jones meets Mission Impossible, albeit there are no mystical undead villains or death-defying jumps off of skyscrapers to be found here. This is a story that’s grounded in reality, making it all the more powerful in its humanization of the characters. Admittedly, some parts of the movie fall into cheeseball territory, but it’s surprisingly immune from some of the tropes that plague many “Christian” movies. Caviezel gives a great performance as Ballard, but the performances of Rocio and Miguel are what truly keep the human element alive in the movie, putting faces to the real victims who fall prey to this evil every day.
As to be expected, the events depicted in Sound of Freedom are highly dramatized. The reality of sex trafficking is even more dire than what’s shown in the movie. Many times, victims are not in a psychological state to even be rescued in the same way they are in the film — yet another devastating byproduct of the severe mental and spiritual destruction that victims undergo. Bearing this in mind, if the goal of Sound of Freedom is to give even a small glimpse into this dark underworld and move hearts to do something about it, then it succeeds.
As the credits roll, Caviezel appears for a special message to explain the many obstacles that kept Sound of Freedom from a wider release until now and declares the film as the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin of 21st century slavery.” While only time will tell whether that analogy is warranted, it goes without saying that a film like Sound of Freedom, which sheds much-needed light on the oft-ignored scourge of child sex trafficking, is one that’s worthy of being made — and certainly one that’s worth seeing.
Sound of Freedom is in theaters now. Get tickets here.