A Film About Child Trafficking Takes on Summer Blockbusters
“Sound of Freedom,” a thriller starring Jim Caviezel as a federal agent who takes on child traffickers, will not be the summer box office’s biggest hit. But it may be its unlikeliest.
The film — whose distributor, Angel Studios, has a big success with “The Chosen,” a streaming series about the life of Jesus — was the third most watched film in North America last weekend. Its $19.7 million weekend take was behind only the horror film “Insidious: The Red Door,” which made $33 million in its first weekend, and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which made $27.4 million in its second.
“Sound of Freedom” is based on a true story: Caviezel plays Tim Ballard, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent who investigated pedophiles. (Ballard later founded the anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad, became a frequent guest on Fox News and was appointed by former President Donald J. Trump to a federal advisory panel on human trafficking.)
Some critics say the film appeals to the QAnon movement, which posits a false conspiracy theory accusing progressive elites of pedophilia. The Guardian called it a “QAnon-adjacent thriller.” A Rolling Stone article said that its “mainstream accessibility makes it valuable as a recruitment tool.” In an interview, Neal Harmon, Angel’s chief executive, said: “Anybody who watches this film knows that this film is not about conspiracy theories,” adding, “it’s not about politics.”
Source: The New York Times
