SOUND OF FREEDOM - Mark Reviews Movies

Sound of Freedom, Angel Studios

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Review by Mark Dujsik | July 2, 2023

There's a good case to be made to approach the veracity of Sound of Freedom with some skepticism—not only because of the specific figures of the movie, but also because the central issue, the trafficking and abuse of children, has become the topic of conspiracy theories and a go-to form of irresponsible or outright defamatory political "argument." One must put as much of that aside as is possible, though, when discussing the way a movie functions and succeeds or fails at its goals.

As such, co-writer/director Alejandro Monteverde's thriller works at doing exactly what it sets out to do. It is disturbing, yes, but also a hopeful call for something to be done when it comes to the actual and growing problem of the sexual trafficking, abuse, and exploitation of children.

Whether or not the case being presented by Monteverde and Rod Barr's screenplay as the truth is what actually happened as a matter of objective history is more or less irrelevant (Is any movie "based on true events" the full truth, anyway?). Whether or not the processes and tactics portrayed in the film are practical, efficient, or wholly beneficial to the innocents in need of help is a much larger discussion for a broad range of experts in law enforcement and psychology. That the film might open up those conversations—in good faith and with an understanding that people actually do want to aid in ending this worldwide affliction, one can only hope in this divisive and angry climate of politics—is an inherently good thing.

The story revolves around Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel), an agent for a Department of Homeland Security task force that focuses on online crimes against children. He has uncovered and arrested almost 300 people who distribute sexually exploitative and abusive material involving children across the country. One particular case, though, forces him to reassess if stopping the perpetrators is actually working toward eliminating the root of the problem.

For whatever baggage Caviezel might bring to the film (His own penchant for believing and disseminating conspiracy theories is vaguely hinted at during a "special message" that plays over the film's closing credits—an unfortunate note upon which to end the project), there's no denying that his performance here is highly effective. His Tim is a man defined by equal parts of hardened determination, compartmentalized trauma for all of the horrors he has witnessed, and a degree of gentleness with young victims that practically glows from his face.

We see that last quality after Tim rescues a young boy named Miguel (Lucás Ávila) during his most recent investigation. The boy and his older sister Rocío (Cristal Aparicio) were abducted and sold into sex slavery out of their home in Honduras, after their father (played by José Zúñiga) wrongly trusted a seemingly legitimate "talent agency." A prologue shows just how horrifically simple such a deception can be, especially in the way it would target the economically disenfranchised (There's yet another angle from which to approach the larger problem, by the way).

Upon learning that the sister is still in danger and that his agency doesn't have the means or the authority to save a foreign citizen from her current enslavement in Colombia, Tim resigns, with the encouragement of his wife (briefly played by Mira Sorvino), and makes it his personal mission to find Rocío. He receives help from a mysterious man known as Vampiro (the great character actor Bill Camp in a lived-in performance of newfound purpose based on cynicism and regret), who knows too well the kind of darkness that perpetuates this illegal industry, to set up a sting operation. If it succeeds, the plan could save dozens of children and apprehend some key players in part of this international network.

With those pieces set into motion, the rest of the plot does transform into a slightly straightforward thriller, although the way Tim, Vampiro, and their colleagues must attempt to balance being convincing as human traffickers and protecting children who are in immediate peril right in front of them adds a layer of shaky morality to the suspense of the scheme. Nothing bad happens on their watch, of course, but it very well could, which raises some tricky questions the film isn't willing or prepared to answer.

Those aren't the only unaddressed issues regarding Tim's process, either. The third act has a disguised Tim infiltrating a camp of rebel fighters in the isolation of the jungle. If that sounds impractical as a method of dismantling a problem as large as the film acknowledges it to be, the sequence is sound on a dramatic level, to be sure (One hopes an audience can recognize the distinction between the justification of such vigilantism in a film plot and some tacit endorsement of it in the real world, especially when so many intentionally false allegations are made against high-profile and ordinary people on a regular basis for supposed political gains).

Despite its true-life assertions and the controversies surrounding the real Ballard's stories and approach, Sound of Freedom makes it clear that this is a work of dramatic fiction, if only because its own methods and goals are so to-the-point and structured around/leaning into the conventions of a typical thriller. With its genuine performances and Monteverde's steady hand in presenting these suspense sequences, the film works in that mode and in raising—unintentionally, in some cases—plenty of worthwhile discussion about the causes of and solutions to the evil of human trafficking.

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