The Sound of Freedom is a movie that was released July 4th, 2023 by Angel Productions based on the true story of Tim Ballard (played by Jim Caviezel) and his miraculous operations to free children from sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. Throughout the movie, Ballard saves a little boy, Miguel Aguilar. Who, along with his sister, had been captured thinking they had been scouted by a local modeling scout. After speaking with Miguel, Ballard is on a mission to find Miguel’s sister, Rosio. By the end of the film, we see Ballard rescue Rosio from an ungoverned and dangerous part of southern Colombia. While this story was beautifully told, many viewers left the theater wondering “How accurate is this movie”. The truth is, the movie throughout is, for the most part, factual, but to say that the movie is 100 percent accurate would be a lie. 

Before noting the inaccuracies, it is essential to highlight that the characters within the movie are all based on real people, including “Giselle”, the woman in charge of capturing the children. Giselle planned to “scout” out talent and promise fortunes for low-income families. Giselle’s character is based on a woman named Kelly Johana Suarez. Suarez was named “Miss Cartagena” in her early 20s. However, by her late 20s, she was preying upon poor families in her hometown of Obrero, Colombia promising fortune from modeling and pageantry. From there, she would sell the hopeful children into a sex trading business that was blowing up at this time. 

“Operation Triple Take”, also known as the rescue operation on the island, did happen. 123 survivors were rescued, with 55 of them being minors making it the largest operation done by Ballard’s nonprofit, “Operation Underground Railroad”. This mission was accurate, unlike the Colombian jungle rescue of a girl named Grady (named Rosio in the film). The truth of the matter is, yes, there were multiple operations throughout the search for Grady posing as doctors, but there were no operations that Ballard experienced on his own. Unfortunately, Grady has yet to be located and the search continues for the young girl. Meaning that the ending of The Sound of Freedom is fabricated to create a happy ending to the film.

Overall, the film was a cinematic masterpiece. The acting is raw and so genuine, making viewers believe that these actors are the real survivors and rescue team that engaged in these missions. The camera work was beyond magnificent. During the rescue scene of Rosio, the point of view changes from being all on Ballard, to being all on Rosio. Every time Rosio would close her eyes during the teeth-clenching battle between Ballard and Rosio’s abuser, the screen would go completely black. As a viewer, you feel the terrifying nature of the scene for her.

While this film is not completely factual, it is absolutely incredible and heart-wrenching. Films that tackle sex trafficking and sexual exploitation and these hard-to-talk-about topics must be brought to the big screen. They make the people who watch it understand the reality of sexual exploitation and trafficking. Often we don’t see the reality of situations until they are brought to light, especially visually. Tim Ballard has devoted his life to educating those on the reality and warning signs of trafficking launching his own nonprofit to find and eradicate sex trafficking worldwide. While sex trafficking is still a huge problem, he did a fantastic job bringing this film to the big screen and the actuality of these situations.

Sources:

Operation Underground Railroad. "Sound of Freedom: Based on A True Story (Except for the Parts That Aren't)." End Child Trafficking | Operation Underground Railroad, 27 June 2023, ourrescue.org/blog/sound-of-freedom-based-on-true-story. Accessed 23 July 2023.