The harrowing true story behind Sound of Freedom: Faith-based film that's battling Indiana Jones at the box office after being kept out of theaters for YEARS tells tale of special agent and dad-of-nine who risked his life to save child trafficking victims
- Sound of Freedom follows a former government agent named Tim Ballard
- It's based off a real man who embarked on a mission to save trafficked kids
- Here's what really happened when he rescued them from a Columbian jungle
Powerful new movie Sound of Freedom has captured the nation and left audiences around the globe in awe over the story - and many will be stunned to learn that it's actually based off true events.
The crowdfunded, faith-based thriller - which beat out the latest instalment to the Indiana Jones franchise on opening day and brought acclaimed actor and director Mel Gibson to tears - follows a former government agent named Tim Ballard, who quits his job to embark on a dangerous mission to rescue a group of kids who are being held captive by child traffickers in Columbia.
Its release - and surprise box office success - has sparked a bitter backlash against 'Hollywood gatekeeping', after it was revealed that the movie was kept out of theaters for nearly a decade by studio executives who didn't agree with the beliefs and politics of its creators.
But while the drama surrounding the movie's premiere has rocked the industry, the true story behind its plotline also boasts plenty of jaw-dropping drama.
The harrowing incidents that occurred in the film are inspired by the real-life endeavors of a man named Tim Ballard - who dedicated 12 years of his life working undercover for the Department of Homeland Security before he left the government agency after he was told to stand down while trying to free children from human traffickers in the South America jungle.
Sound of Freedom, which starred Jim Caviezel as Tim and Mira Sorvino as his wife, Katherine Ballard, premiered on July 4th and made a whopping $14 million in its first day - $2.5 million more than Disney's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
It's an impressive feat for a film that's only being shown in 2,850 theaters across the globe - 1,750 less than Indiana Jones - and one that was rejected by a series of major production companies, including Disney, for nearly ten years, before it finally made it to theaters thanks to crowdfunding.
The real man who inspired the film reflected on his experiences to Daily Signal last month, when he explained that that Jim's portrayal of him in the new movie was a pretty accurate telling of the events that actually transpired in his own life.
'I had spent 12 years as a Special Agent, undercover operator, for the Department of Homeland Security working child crimes and child trafficking,' he explained.
The former agent added that the first part of his career was spent 'collecting cases' and investigating people who were 'possessing and distributing child exploitation material.'
But he longed to do more, and was desperate to get out there and start searching for the children.
'[I was] always wondering, "Where are the kids?" I see these videos, I gotta describe them [in the reports] - it breaks my heart,' he said.
Tim told the outlet that in 2006, 'the laws changed' and US agents were finally allowed to 'go overseas' to capture traffickers. And while he said that 'opened up his horizons,' it was still a 'frustrating process.'
'The law didn’t stipulate how much time I would get or how much flexibility I would have or creativity I’d have,' he continued.
'I’d be given a week or whatever to find them... But if I couldn’t find them, back to the United States.
'[They'd say]: "Come home," [and I'd say], "But I’ve seen kids I can rescue." And they'd say, "Doesn’t matter. Come home."'
In 2012, he said 'it all kind of came to a head' when he was working two 'major' cases - one in Haiti and one in Columbia - and he was told to stop his work once again.
'They were both major cases - a significant hit against human traffickers would’ve taken place,' he revealed.
'There I am, they’re asking me to come home once again, but I wasn't going to do it. I was going to stay. And that meant I had to quit my job.'
The movie contains one very emotional conversation shared between Tim and his wife, Katherine, in which he calls her from Columbia and tells her that he's going to quit his job so that he can complete his mission.
During his chat with Daily Signal, Tim opened up about his wife's real reaction to the news, admitting that he wasn't as brave in real life as the movie depicted him to be.
'I called my wife hoping, hoping she’d say, "Get your butt home. Are you kidding me? We got six kids to feed.” I wanted her to say it because I was being a coward, but I knew it was the right thing,' he revealed.
'She didn’t read my script. She said, "Of course you’re going to stay." And I said, "Are you kidding?"
'And she said to me, very sternly - she’s usually pretty sweet, but this is righteous indignation at its finest - "I will not let you jeopardize my salvation by not doing this." It was that powerful and it pierced my heart when she said it.'
'It breaks my heart because not only was she losing our income, but [there was a] very good chance, maybe 50/50, that she was going to lose me. She was willing to risk becoming a widow.'
Tim added that while the film did a great job portraying his story, it only touched on the surface of what he went through.
He said he rescued a total of 120 women and children during the mission, while the movie only depicts him saving around 50.
'The film only focuses on the one in Colombia. The film only gets into a piece of it,' he shared.
'The movie didn’t have time to get into it. But there’s so much more attached to that whole story.'
He also joked to The Victory Channel: 'Some things are definitely overreported. [Jim] makes me look way cooler than I am. I promise.'
Tim went on to found Operation Underground Railroad - an anti-trafficking nonprofit organization.
And there's one major thing that occurred in the movie that Tim wants people to know never happened - the scene in which Jim's character is seen killing a man to save one of the children.
'This did not happen,' Operation Underground Railroad states on its website. 'Operation Underground Railroad exists to rescue children from sex trafficking and sexual exploitation, and we go where no one else will to find even just one child.
'But we do not function as a vigilante group. We work with local authorities and governments and contribute equipment, funds, and undercover operatives to the cause of freedom.
'Our undercover operatives do not use guns in any of our operations. Tim Ballard has never killed anyone, contrary to what is depicted in the film.'
While many are moved by Tim's story and its portrayal in Sound of Freedom, the movie has also received some backlash - with a few critics even accusing the film of 'warping the truth about child exploitation and catering to QAnon conspiracy theorists,' per the Washington Post.
Back in 2020, Vice World News posted an explosive report about Tim's organization Operation Underground Railroad, in which it claimed to have found a 'a pattern of image-burnishing and mythology-building, a series of exaggerations that are, in the aggregate, quite misleading' and a major 'divide between the group’s actual practices and some of its claimed successes.'
The Davis County Attorney’s Office in Utah also spent over two years looking into OUR over allegations of 'communications fraud, witness tampering and retaliation against a witness, victim or informant,' Deseret.com reported. However, no charges were ever brought against the organization.
The Post also claimed to have found 'no evidence' to back Tim's previous claims that '10,000 children are smuggled into the United States for sex annually' - a statement he made in 2019 in an essay titled, 'I’ve fought sex trafficking at the border. This is why we need a wall,' which was later quoted by former President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address in 2019.
The outlet even pointed out that the movie has been promoted heavily on QAnon message boards, since Tim, as well as the actor who played him in the flick, have both 'expressed support for some of QAnon's wildest claims.'
Tim once accused furniture company Wayfair of 'selling children' in a video shared to his Twitter in 2020 - a popular theory pushed by QAnon supporters.
As for Jim, who has revealed that Tim specifically requested that he play him in the movie because he was blown away by his performances The Count of Monte Cristo and the biblical drama The Passion of the Christ, has spoken at QAnon conventions in the past.
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