A surprise hit in the United States, this thriller has sparked controversy after being relayed in conspiracy circles. It is being broadcast on television this week.
This is the story of a businessman who dedicated his life to fighting child trafficking. A Mormon, former American special agent, himself a father of nine children, and considered by many to be a great human rights activist. His biography tells how his life changed after he managed to save a young Mexican from a child trafficking pedophile ring. Leaving his post to find the latter’s sister by infiltrating the Colombian mafia, his journey was worthy of a film.
The only thing missing was a director to do it, Alejandro Monteverdo, who took it upon himself to extol the virtues of the character – Timothy Ballard – in a thriller, Sound of Freedomreleased in 2023. A huge success in the United States when no one saw it coming, the feature film generated $185 million in revenue across the Atlantic, while it cost “only” $14 million. Enough to more than cover its costs.
Yet, Sound of Freedom did not have the same success when it was released in France a few months later. The fault may be due to very negative reviews and a more than sulphurous reputation.
As soon as it was released, Sound of Freedom will indeed be exploited by a part of the American conservative and conspiratorial right, as well as by supporters of the American QAnon movement, convinced that an elite maintains child trafficking for pedocriminal purposes, but also to collect a substance that would prevent people from aging… These theories will even be conveyed by the main actor of the film, Jim Caviezel, a follower of conspiracies of all kinds, in the middle of promoting the film.
Furthermore, the film is criticized for giving a bad vision of child trafficking, since in reality, victims often know their traffickers and are not necessarily kidnapped by vast networks. The controversy will also concern the hero of the film himself, the sulphurous Tim Ballard, singled out for years for his controversial methods (distributing videos of victims), opaque funding of his NGOs and since accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in his functions. He will briefly try to advise a certain Donald Trump before withdrawing.
So it is this disturbing context and the public who have appropriated it Sound of Freedom which made it both a success and a source of controversy. The difficulties the film had in finding a distributor before its release were also interpreted, by a fringe of conspiracy theorists, as “proof” that an elite wanted to prevent its distribution. After its theatrical release, Sound of Freedom is broadcast on Canal+ Saturday August 31 from 9:10 p.m.