July 2023 came to us with a movie that will never be forgotten. Sound of Freedom, the painful, true, and horrifying true story, has rocked the worlds of those who watched it on 4 July 2023. If you are a parent, an empath, or simply a human being, you will view the world from a different angle once you come face to face with this painful portrayal of child trafficking.
Sound of Freedom is now the third-most-watched movie in America, after Indiana Johns and Insidious. However, the remarkable success of Sound of Freedom did not come easy, and many layers to this production go beyond it being just a movie.
Sound of Freedom: The Plot
Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) is a special agent at Homeland Security Department who rescues children from brutal child traffickers, and it is more than just a job for him; it is his life mission and purpose. In one of the rescues, Tim rescues a little boy from the hands of brutal child traffickers. However, the child immediately tells him that he has a sister and that she is still captive by these heartless beings.
Without thinking, Tim decides to go on a mission, searching for the girl in the Colombian jungles. However, he had to follow his bosses’ orders and return home, or leave everything behind him and keep looking for the girl. Once again, he quickly took the decision to quit his job and stay in Colombia after making a phone call to his wife, sharing his decision with her.
We follow Tim’s brave, thrilling and emotional mission to save these children from being sexually trafficked and tortured. What is really painful and shocking about this story is the fact that it is true! These events actually happened with even further heroic and painful details. Without further ado, let’s look at the true story behind this hit movie, which makes it a remarkable and controversial production.
Sound of Freedom: What Really Happened
Although Sound of Freedom portrays the true story as it is, there have been slight changes for cinematic reasons. To begin with, in Sound of Freedom, we see Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) calling his wife, Katherine Ballard (Mira Sorvino), to let her know about his decision to quit the Homeland Security Department and stay in Colombia to save the children. However, in reality, Tim called his wife to consult her on the idea, hoping that she would yell at him and tell him to get back home immediately, especially since they have six children of their own!
Katherine Ballard’s reaction was the exact opposite of what Tim had expected. She told him to quit his job and stay in Colombia and encouraged him to continue his mission and save those children. For cinematic reasons, as we mentioned, this part has been altered so as not to show Tim as a man with a hesitant personality.
Moreover, in Sound of Freedom, the total number of rescued people was stated to be 55 individuals, including 29 under 18 years of age. In real life, the total number of rescued individuals for this mission was 123, including 55 under the age of 18. With that mentioned, it is not really known why wasn’t the real number of rescues mentioned in the movie, but it is most probably due to political reasons, which will be discussed in detail below.
Tim Ballard: How it All Began
Timothy Ballard, Utah’s son, has always wanted to join the forces and fight terrorism, and that is basically what he did. He specialised in terrorism and was really good at what he did. However, when he was around 25 years old, his boss told him that they were opening a new department for child trafficking, and he asked him to join the department.
Tim was awed to hear the news, as at that time, no one really knew what child trafficking really was or to what extent it could go. When he came home, he discussed the matter with his wife, Katherine, and they both agreed to decline the offer, as they were afraid it would bring so much darkness and pain to their house and their children.
Later that night, when Tim was rehearsing what he was going to say to his boss, Katherine came to him crying and told him that he must accept the job for the same reason he was going to decline it; because they have children, and no child on earth deserves to be tortured like that.
The Moment of Truth
His job as a special agent at the Department of Homeland Security was painful and horrifying in ways that no stable mind would be able to imagine. In order to save children from being sexually trafficked, Tim needed to track these paedophile organisations and expose their dirty, sickening work.
Part of his job was watching videotapes of children being raped, and many of these children were around five to seven years old. Just the idea of someone doing that to a child is enough to make you hate the world, imagine seeing it with your own eyes! It takes lots of courage and strength to keep doing this job and still be able to go on with your life after the horrific moments you live in every day.
The Moment of Change
Tim didn’t have to keep watching these sickening scenes to be able to save children, as one day, he was given a sign to change his career path and go save these children with his own hands. The emotional scene in the movie, when a five-year-old boy hugged Tim after he rescued him, and asked him to save his enslaved sister, happened in real life. From that moment on, Tim, with great support from his wife, dedicated his life to go undercover and rescue these children.
He used to go undercover as a paedophile, get close to people in the industry, convince them that he really is the monster he pretends to be, and eventually find these children and comfort them that they are in good hands.
After quitting his job after 12 years in the field due to a shortage of budget for the mission from the government side, he started a non-profit organisation called Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). The non-profit organisation is built on donations and funding to rescue enslaved children and people from all over the world. Tim has made remarkable achievements in that matter, changed the lives of many, and will continue to do so.
A Journey of Faith and Support
There is no doubt that many of us are asking, how could someone keep doing this job? How could someone have the will and strength to risk his life, see the horrific things that happened to these children, and still go home, hug his children, make them feel safe, and act like everything is okay?
In fact, Tim does suffer, he collapses sometimes, and he bursts into crying after the day is finished, but two things have always kept him going: His faith and his wife’s support. From the beginning, Tim was given a lot of signs to follow this path, to do this job, and to never give up on these children. He recalls the incident of the five-year-old boy; it was the first time he saw a child from the videos in real life. It was overwhelming, emotional and beyond his imagination.
When he went back home that day, he collapsed on the floor to the point that his wife thought he was having a heart attack. He knew he had to do more than watch videos; he had to go out there and rescue more children like that boy. One of the signs he recalled was a necklace that boy gave him, and it had the name “Timothy” on it. It was his sister’s necklace, and Tim kept wearing it in all the missions he had after that.
Tim’s wife never left his side in all of these painful moments, the inner wars and conflicts. She always pushed him forward to keep going and never lose faith. She always reminds him of his purpose on earth, to rescue innocent children and people and spread humanity all over the world. He always acknowledges her efforts, love, support, and her patience and faith, knowing that she could lose him in one of these dangerous missions.
The Controversy
Sound of Freedom is a very controversial movie that has raised many conflicts and debates inside and outside of Hollywood! This is due to the fact that people link it to the QAnon conspiracy theories and the darkness surrounding them. For that reason, the movies took years to be produced and displayed in theatres. Moreover, many production companies, such as Disney, Amazon, and Netflix, refused to produce the movie for all the political chaos it would create.
QAnon: What is it?
QAnon is an internet conspiracy theory group that started in 2017, and they suggest that many governmental officials and celebrities run paedophilic organisations that not only consume children sexually but also kill them and drink their blood. Of course, there are various theories and sub-theories involved here and not only about children, but they also tackle other topics like U.F.Os, COVID-19, and so many more.
However, Sound of Freedom is not labelling itself as a QAnon production. Still, people immediately linked it to QAnon, as both Jim Caviezel, who Tim chose to play his character, and Tim Ballard have been known as QAnon supporters. This, in turn, led many anti-QAnon to question the facts stated in the movie, such as the number of sexually trafficked children, the heroic acts of Tim and his supporters, and the suggestion that the U.S. government is not doing whatever it takes to save these children.
Focus on the Children
Whether Sound of Freedom is a QAnon movie or not, nothing changes the fact that what happens to the children in the movie is true; the pain, the darkness, and the fear are all true regardless of how statistically accurate it is. Child trafficking is a serious and painful issue that needs quick and flexible solutions to end their misery. Sound of Freedom sheds light on this matter and asks people to take action, so whether or not you are a QAnon supporter, do not let this stop you from contributing to raising awareness on the topic; you may save more lives than you know!