Sound of Freedom wastes no time in grabbing your gut and wrenching it as hard as possible. The movie’s “message first” mentality has lefty reviewers whining over the “absence of procedural logic,” or to pan the film as a “solemn, drawn-out bore.”
Solemn? One hopes so, given the subject matter of child sex trafficking. I’m not sure that would be the right setting for a romantic comedy. Though Woody Allen might disagree. And boring? If anything, the opposite. The pacing of Sound of Freedom is frenetic. The critiques over the convenience and expedience of certain plot points are not without merit, but no one seems unable to suspend disbelief when Hollywood demands it. So why should it be any different when Provo, Utah suggests the same?
The truth is Sound of Freedom is likely to end up as the most important movies of the year. Not least due to the obvious impact of the story: gasps aplenty emanated from the liberal luvvie Georgetown cinema audience I sat amongst for the film.
More to the point, Alejandro Monteverde’s movie will likely spur on many more like it, and has already made enough money in box office receipts to guarantee further productions on subject matters equally important. If any of those come out half as successful as Sound of Freedom, there may be a serious sea change in theater attractions and cinema attendees.
“Stars” might also be more willing to make the jump from the depravity of Hollywood to moral, American film-making. Even better: real stars could now be born, rather than groomed in the style of “La La Land.”
Thematically, what you see is what you get with Sound of Freedom: a frightening story of child sex trafficking told through the steely eyes of Tim Ballard – the real life hero founder of “Our Rescue” – who by the the movie’s conclusion we learn has only managed to scratch the surface of the 50 million children in modern slavery.
It’s difficult to escape the similarities between Jim Caviezel’s depiction of Ballard and the infamous “Chad” meme. Truly this movie was made for a right-wing base, but has already grown well beyond that, grossing $40 million out of 2,852 theaters – many of which even failed to advertise the film’s existence.
In brief, if you haven’t yet watched this movie, stop reading this and go find it. And if you’ve seen it already and want others to do so: click here to “pay it forward”.
