REVIEW: Sound of Freedom movie about Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad
Overview from Wikipedia: Sound of Freedom is a 2022 American action film directed and co-written by Alejandro Monteverde. It stars Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, and Bill Camp. Caviezel plays Tim Ballard, a former government agent turned vigilante who embarks on a mission to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia. It is produced by Eduardo Verastegui, who also plays a role in the film. The film premiered at the 2022 Coronado Island Film Festival, and will be released on July 4, 2023, by Angel Studios.
Plot from Wikipedia:
Tim Ballard quits his job as a Special Agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to become a vigilante and embarks on a mission to rescue children from cartels and human traffickers in Latin America.
If you stay for the credits, Jim provides a heartfelt thank you. No spoilers – you can watch it!
Since 2016, I have become an expert in human trafficking awareness and I have absorbed a lot of information about how human trafficking really happens worldwide. I've taken hundreds of courses, classes, webinars, and in-person trainings and spoken to thousands and thousands of people with varying levels of understanding about the topic.
I never thought I would become an expert in this topic, but here we are.
Sound of Freedom is a thrilling movie where you get to understand how Tim Ballard (and others) become aware of this worldwide problem and why it is important for him to launch himself on this journey.
In brief
It's probably best to lay out what I wanted to see in this movie. I wanted a movie that every parent and corporation could relate to, so they could see the human cost of human trafficking and how it destroys people, communities, and countries worldwide. I wanted people to understand the definition of human trafficking by the time they exited. I wanted a movie that made all moviegoers demand to be educated in their schools.
This movie does not do those things. So, I'll just have to review what it does have.
Sound of Freedom seems to focus on the more “Hollywood” style / explanation of human trafficking, where a child is taken / kidnapped from a parent in another country, and the American hero goes and saves them. In this movie, it's actually two children, a brother and sister.
You're not learning much about grooming or the psychological issues that are so destructive to the individual, community, school, and lives of the involved family members.
Because it focuses on the “rescue” aspect, it makes it seem that human trafficking happening “over there,” instead of in our back yard here in America.
There are lots of truths in it – like America has a huge buyer population, etc., but it's much more sensationalistic than subtle, and my biggest complaint… there are no educational resources given. NONE.
If you want to really understand how trafficking is happening… you can learn all about it here.
The good
They make the point quite clear that human trafficking is real. I think it would be difficult to exit that theater and think this is not happening. (See Bad)
They show a realistic way that people are tricked into their children becoming victims (a modeling scam). A recruiter tricks parents into letting them keep track of their children. (Also see Bad).
It is apparent that the people that are behind trafficking are dangerous and professional.
The bad
Mira Sorvino is underutilized. She is an amazing actor, and I have to say that I was expecting to see her with more screen time. I do understand how the story plays out, but she deserves to be mentioned for all the reasons.
While people are tricked by modeling scams, this movie uses a modeling scam as a front for straight-up kidnapping children to traffick them. While it is true that there are many modeling agencies that are legit, some are staffed with bad people that ultimately find ways to abuse their models. Kidnapping to traffick children, while real, is rare. The “sensational” nature of a kidnapping oversimplifies the problem of human trafficking. For example, the biggest problems we have in human trafficking is online grooming and slow psychological manipulation as well as trafficking that is happening INSIDE a family (inter-familial or familial trafficking). These are complex, nuanced issues that don't easily fit into a 120 minute running time, so that's possibly a reason they don't get the screen time, but regardless, we have to speak up and say that there are huge, complex issues that need to be considered when you are grappling with the reality of this topic.
There is no real tie into what's happening with human trafficking in America. They do mention that America is filled with buyers, almost in passing, in a short text description of the size of human trafficking, worldwide ($150 billion annual income), but if you didn't know that already, you weren't going to notice that fly by.
They do not provide any educational resources. One of the biggest failures I see on almost all human trafficking films, documentaries, etc. is that they do not point you to online resources.
The verdict
If you are looking for a reason to hate trafficking or to be scared into believing human trafficking is real in other countries, this movie provides. If you're looking to teach your American children that they are in danger in America, this movie isn't going to do it.
While the movie does cover a realistic situation (a vulnerable father wants to provide a better life for his children) when a moviegoer walks out of the theater, they cannot define human trafficking.
We kindly offer our Human Trafficking Essentials online course to all the moviegoers. In less than an hour, we'll get you educated. Come on board, we're expecting you! Click here and choose your course. Let's get started!
