The movie is based on the account of Tim Ballard, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security, who for 12 years helped arrest pedophiles who downloaded child exploitation material. Despite arresting 288 criminals, he had not been able to rescue many children who were victims of the atrocity. “Sound of Freedom” depicts his crusade after he dedicated his life to rescuing children from sex traffickers.

On Independence Day I went to see the movie “Sound of Freedom.” I was hesitant because I knew the movie was about human trafficking, making it hard to watch. That wasn’t really the frame of mind I wanted to be in when celebrating our nation’s birthday, but I’m glad I did.

There have been many faith-based movies that were well worth seeing, some largely because of the message they expressed but not necessarily because of the quality of the movie. That is not a shortcoming of “Sound of Freedom.” Produced by Angel Studios, the production quality was equal to any movie from a major studio. It was free of hokey tropes, low-grade, computer-generated imagery (CGI), poor writing, or bad acting. This is reflected in the ratings the movie has received, including an 8.6/10 on IMDB, as well as an 87 percent positive score from critics and a 99 percent score from audiences on the review site Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie is based on the account of Tim Ballard, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security, who for 12 years helped arrest pedophiles who downloaded child exploitation material. Despite arresting 288 criminals, he had not been able to rescue many children who were victims of the atrocity.

“Sound of Freedom” depicts his crusade after he dedicated his life to rescuing children from sex traffickers.

At the end of the movie, text appears informing the viewer that not only are over two million children trafficked each year, but that the United States is one of the primary destinations for sex trafficking. It also tells viewers that more people are enslaved now than when slavery was legal.

Actor Jim Caviezel, who portrays Ballard, delivers a special announcement to those watching in which he encourages them to participate in a pay-it-forward campaign to purchase tickets for those who may not have the discretionary funds to go see a movie.

The studio warns that while no graphic sexual content is depicted, the first half of the film is a “difficult watch,” adding, “We would strongly recommend parental discretion.” There were many times I found myself shaking my head in disgust or even turning away for a moment, sickened, not by a movie studio who depicted anything graphic, but by the horrifying reality that there are people who would do such things to children.

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