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Sound of Freedom is a great movie, and unlike most Hollywood and Disney offerings these days, is well worth the effort to go and see, it’s a refreshing change.

The film is mostly based on a true story of American agent Tim Ballard played by Jim Caviezel, (The Passion of the Christ) who works in the Office of Homeland Security and his Operation Underground Railroad. His mission is to find and convict paedophiles and child sex traffickers on United States soil.  However, his perspective is enlarged when he realises the problem of child sexual trafficking is an international one and doesn’t stop at arresting felons.  The film centres around a Columbian family headed by Roberto and his two children Minuel (8) and his sister Rocio (9). Under the ruse of training for a child modelling course, his children are separated from the family and whisked away into the dark world of child sex trafficking where they are to be sold as sex slaves.

This is a very disturbing film in many ways and if you are wanting a good night out to enjoy yourself, then this film is not for you. There is nothing frivolous about this confronting film and one has to wonder how such a blight of human society could be such a pervasive problem in the modern world where most people in westernised nations would regard themselves as progressive and informed and yet this disgusting trade is flourished right under our noses.                    

The film follows Tim Ballard’s rescue of Minual, and after learning that his sister Rocio is still missing, Ballard forms a steely resolve to find and rescue her and goes to Columbia. Tim's Homeland Security supervisor is unable to provide funding for the operation and asks him to return to the U.S. Tim resigns his position rather than abandon the search for Rocío.

At the end of the film’s credits, there is a moving epilogue by Jim Caviezel in which he claims there are more people enslaved today than at any other time in history, including when slavery was legal.  This is a disturbing statistic, but one also has to keep in mind the world’s present population is over seven times as large as it was back then.  (Britain abolished slavery in 1833, and the U.S. abolished slavery in 1865).

Jim Caviezel urges all viewers to act as ambassadors for exploited children and to encourage family and friends to see the film, which is a worthy thing to do, and I guess that would also help to make the film a more commercial success.

The film has been endorsed by Mel Gibson and Elon Musk and to date has been the third most successful film this year grossing over $182 million after having been made for $14.5 million in 2018.

Lastly, the film is rated M, and generally suitable for family viewing as long as children are over 15 years of age due to the sensitive subject matter of the film.

Alan Barron is Victoria State Director for FamilyVoice Australia