If you’ve not yet seen the summer sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom,” I’m betting you’ve at least heard about it.
If neither apply, then I’d say there’s a good chance you live in a “Barbie” world.
That’s because this film about child sex trafficking has broken all records for ticket sales for an independently produced movie, beating out popular Hollywood sequels as it has brought in $150 million so far and prepares to go international.
And it has done surprisingly well in spite of – or because of – the political volleyball this movie turned into even before it hit theaters almost a month ago.
That “Sound of Freedom,” produced by Angel Studios, is still showing in local theaters says something newsworthy, including the fact family and faith-based productions are gaining momentum in terms of traditional Hollywood offerings. Ticket sales also point to how powerful this film is, and in fact I would suggest stuffing a few tissues into your pocket along with that bag of Twizzlers or M&Ms.
I began following the controversy weeks before the movie’s release when its star Jim Caviezel, an actor as deeply religious as he is talented and known mainly for his role as Jesus in another blockbuster but controversial film “The Passion of the Christ,” began giving interviews about this film that’s based on a true story.
In “Sound of Freedom” Caviezel plays Tim Ballard, the founder of the anti-child-sex-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad who was working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when he decided apprehending pedophiles was not enough: Those innocent victims who were being kidnapped and sexually exploited needed to be rescued.
And so he set out to do just that. Which sounds like the kind of narrative any major studio would jump at, right?
Except that Caviezel, a devout Catholic also known for his ultra-conservative political leanings, unfortunately made statements linking him to QAnon and some of its outrageous beliefs, including Hollywood bigwigs sucking a chemical from the brains of children to use as an anti-aging elixir. (I’d like to add you can’t make this stuff up but obviously you can.)
Caviezel has backed away from such claims but his political ideologies and those of others associated with the film were enough for mainstream heavyweights like Disney, Netflix and Prime to pass on any deal.
However, over a rocky five-year-period, “Sound of Freedom” was completed, thanks in large part to crowdfunding and the passions of those who believed so strongly in the project. And when it rolled out over the Fourth of July weekend, much was made about its unorthodox marketing campaign that relied on Christian-based and far-right media support and a “pay it forward” ticket option.
Headlines also rang out how “Sound of Freedom” stunned pretty much everyone when it went up against and beat in its first weekend such blockbuster franchises as “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One.”
Nearly a month later, Angel executives say they are adding theaters, and preparing to take the film worldwide, again, despite or because of the ongoing controversy that seems to pit conservative against liberal.
Keep in mind, this is a high-quality film with excellent acting that, without four-letter words or explicit graphic scenes is intended to open eyes to the worldwide problem of child sex-trafficking. Yet it was criticized for exaggerations and taking liberties with facts - as if 99% of all Hollywood movies based on true stories don’t.
Even Ballard himself took heat as critics picked apart every aspect of his mission. And there was the critique “Sound of Freedom” does more damage than good to the battle because children are more often victimized by adults they know and trust than someone who kidnaps them.
Seriously? As if those who fall into this nightmare via a stranger’s hands don’t matter?
The right did its fair share of griping as well, including unfounded tales of theaters sabotaging ticket sales, even to the point of turning off air conditioning.
Fox News loved the movie, of course, taking shots at liberals for panning such an important topic, while a CNN critic labeled the film fodder for conspiracy theorists. Meanwhile, Rolling Stone dubbed it a “box office triumph for QAnon believers,” Ebert.com described it as a “solemn drawn-out bore,” and Variety deemed it a “compelling movie that shines an authentic light on one of the crucial criminal horrors of our time, one that Hollywood has mostly shied away from.”
Of course Donald Trump throwing his support behind the movie is reason enough for some to attach “Sound of Freedom” to right-wing extremists and reason enough for others to flock to it in solidarity against that liberal agenda.
I have no idea how much longer the movie will be playing in the Fox Valley. It’s no longer listed on Emagine Batavia’s website, where I saw the film, but is still showing in every other local theater I checked throughout the Fox Valley, including in Naperville, Oswego, Sandwich, Yorkville, St. Charles and North Aurora.
And I was encouraged by a recent Newsweek poll that indicated both Democrats and Republicans have a favorable view of the film. That’s a win/win – not just for Angel Studios which spent $14.5 million to make “Sound of Freedom,” but for all of us sick and tired of the way every important issue facing us as a nation and as humanity somehow gets turned into a political litmus test.
According to the United Nations, about a third of all trafficking victims are children, with most exploitation taking place close to home. And, taken straight from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services website, these “pimps or traffickers find victims not only on social-networking websites, but also in shopping malls, schools, group homes, shelters, bus or train stations and on the streets.”
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Ron Hain has not seen the movie. But the Kane County sheriff (a Democrat as if that should matter), who helped create a local sex-trafficking unit 18 months ago, certainly does not live in a “Barbie” world. And, despite his unfamiliarity with “Sound of Freedom,” he told me any film, any news article that brings attention to child trafficking is a good thing.
Hain describes internet sex offenders as “the most prevalent threat” to our children. But he also noted that “the point of the movie is to make people more aware,” which can only lead to better reporting and more tips police need to battle sexual predators.
That brings me to what I personally consider the movie’s most powerful endorsement.
While “Sound of Freedom,” which I saw a couple weekends ago, definitely brought tears to my eyes, it was my daughter’s response that touched me most profoundly.
As the screen went blank and the lights went up at the end of the film, she remained almost frozen in her plush recliner, crying unabashedly as other theatergoers filed past her.
“Mom, I feel so naive,” she finally managed to utter between sobs. “I had no idea this was going on in the world.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
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