The anti-sex trafficking movie Sound of Freedom finished in the top 10 of highest grossing films at the domestic box office in 2023. Directed by Alejandro Monteverde, the film features Jim Caviezel and Mira Sorvino.
The movie – distributed by Angel Studies and produced with only a $14 million budget – earned over $184 million domestically at the box office last year. Including international sales, the film has grossed over $248 million worldwide.
Sound of Freedom’s domestic total can only be viewed as a wild success, considering the movie’s lean budget. It beat out many big-budget movies for a spot in the top 10, including Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
You can watch the trailer for Sound of Freedom here:
The movie tells the story of Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security agent who founded the anti-human trafficking nonprofit organization Operation Underground Railroad.
“As a Homeland Security agent, Ballard encountered bureaucratic challenges and limitations that hindered his ability to rescue victims effectively,” Angel Studio said, describing Ballard’s story. “Driven by his passion for justice and his personal encounters with the horrors of child trafficking, Tim made the decision to establish O.U.R.”
Unfortunately, Ballard has since been accused of sexual misconduct and departed from Operation Underground Railroad after an independent law firm concluded that he “engaged in unprofessional behavior that violated O.U.R.’s policies and values.”
Operation Underground Railroad, in a recent statement, noted that Ballard, during his tenure as CEO, “directly participated in only a small fraction of O.U.R.’s operations.” O.U.R. will continue its work combating child sexual exploitation and human trafficking, the organization said.
Despite Ballard’s alleged improprieties, Sound of Freedom continues to shed light on an often-underreported issue – the worldwide problem of sex trafficking. According to the U.S. Department of State, there are an estimated 27.6 million victims of human trafficking worldwide at any given time.
It’s an evil that isn’t going away any time soon. The more time, attention, and resources that organizations and countries dedicate to combatting human sex trafficking, the better.
To learn more about human trafficking, listen to Focus on the Family’s Broadcast, Human Trafficking: What You Need to Know. You’ll hear Linda Smith, President of Shared Hope International, discuss the trafficking of minors in the United States, how listeners can fight it and how parents can protect their children. To listen to the Broadcast, click here.
If you want to learn more about the entertainment content your family is viewing, check out Focus on the Family’s free service Plugged In. The Plugged In team reviews movies, television shows, music, games, books and more. You can learn more about Plugged In here.
You can read Plugged In’s review of Sound of Freedom here.
Related articles and resources:
Human Trafficking: What You Need to Know
How to Fight Human Trafficking
Understanding the Scope of Human Trafficking
FBI’s ‘Operation Cross Country’ Leads to Rescue of 200 Human Trafficking Victims
‘Operation Lost Souls’ Recovers 70 Missing Children, Victims of Sex Trafficking
‘Operation Carolina Homecoming’ Recovers Over 150 Missing Children
Photo from Angel Studios.
