Local Anti-Trafficking Ministry Benefits from ‘Sound of Freedom’ Despite Movie’s Controversy
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The “Sound of Freedom” — a movie based on the true story of rescuing children from child sex trafficking — has stirred inspiration, conversation and controversy since its July 4 release.
Based on Operation Underground Railroad’s (OUR) founder, Tim Ballard, it dramatizes the rescue of a brother and sister in Columbia who were stolen from their dad for sex trafficking and who were eventually rescued by Ballard and his team of operatives.
‘Sound of Freedom’ Stirs Inspiration
Many of the staff at Spokane Valley nonprofit HRC Ministries, which helps restore people who are entrapped in trafficking, saw the movie and two of its leaders said it has produced interest in their ministry.
“[The movie] has helped us tremendously, and we love Operation Underground Railroad,” said Caleb Altmeyer, CEO and founder of HRC. “We’ve already had to add two new [Sex Trafficking 101] trainings to our agenda. Just because we’ve had such an influx of people contacting us.”
The first added training was July 27 and the second will be on Aug. 17 at 6 p.m.
Anja Khoma, HRC’s chief program officer, hoped the movie would reflect more of what trafficking looked like in America.
“And I know that that wasn’t his story here. And so this wasn’t the platform for that. And I do understand that because that wasn’t his experience,” Khoma said.
She appreciated at the very end of the movie a quote that was shared saying America was the top consumer for child pornography, child sex abuse material and child trafficking. But she did hope for more.
“It was such a quick little blurb that at the end that I feel it almost you almost could have missed it. You could have walked out of that movie feeling like this still only happens in third world countries,” Khoma said.
‘Sound of Freedom’ Stirs Conversation
Still, Khoma thinks the movie helped open the door to conversations with people interested in learning more about human trafficking, people HRC would not have had the opportunity to reach before.
“We, because of this movie, now have the opportunity to have that conversation with a lot of people and bring education to what is happening here stateside. To let them know that those kids that go in at that age, most of the time they don’t get out till they’re 18 or older,” she said.
Both Altmeyer and Khoma said many of those trafficked in America wind up groomed and recruited by someone they know. It’s not like the ‘snatch and grab’ depicted in movies on trafficking — although that does happen infrequently, Khoma said.
Polaris tracks human trafficking data for all types of trafficking situations and reported in 2021 that their data, “shows that trafficking victims are generally recruited by someone they know – such as a family member or caregiver (33%), an intimate partner (28%), or an employer (22%). As a whole, the internet remained the top reported recruitment location.”
‘Sound of Freedom’ Stirs Controversy
In tandem with the positive local interest HRC has experienced, national and international media have been writing about what’s accurate in “Sound of Freedom” and what is not, along with its summer box office success.
As of July 27, the film has already passed $127 million, making it the “first indie release in post-pandemic times to surpass $100 million at the domestic box office,” according to Variety.
Other outlets have been reporting on OUR and Ballard more than the movie.
This includes stories of investigations into Ballard’s own storytelling accuracy over the years, which Vice has been reporting on since 2020.
Concerns about how OUR lists its expenses have alerted Christian ministry watchdog groups, The Roys Report and MinistryWatch. In fact, MinistryWatch rates non-profits, mostly religious ones, and it gave OUR a “give with caution” rating of 47 out 100.
With that said, secular charity watchdog groups show mixed OUR rating results. Charity Navigator gave OUR a 100%, 4-star rating based on its metric, while the BBB Wise Giving Alliance gave it a “standards not met” rating.
Questions with little answers also surround Ballard’s recent exit from two nonprofits, including OUR, to begin a new one called The SPEAR Fund, which one journalist wrote, “requests donations but doesn’t say what the group plans to do beyond ‘education, action, redemption, spirituality, and peace.’”
One story in The Guardian questions the movie’s distributor, Angel Studios, and its novel “Pay It Forward” scheme to get movie goers to buy tickets in advance for people who might not otherwise see it and reports of empty movie theaters as a result despite being sold out.
In the End, ‘Sound of Freedom’ Entertains
Despite the controversy, the film maintains a 7.9 rating out of 10 IMDb score. It also has a Rotten Tomatoes Fresh critics rating of 70% with a 99% audience rating.
The summary statement of the more than 10,000 audience-verified reviews reads, “’Sound of Freedom’ is a powerful film with strong performances and an important message.”
As a dramatization, Angel Studios writes on their website what is true about the film and what are the creative liberties.
Altmeyer knows the film is meant to be entertaining, but, overall, he thinks the movie is well done.
He also believes Ballard is the “real deal,” having spoken with OUR staff for more than a year and a half to coordinate a regional partnership. The movie reinforces what he learned about Ballard during that time.
“I think it’s touching,” he said. “I think the biggest thing I like about it is it’s just bringing awareness to trafficking in general. I think it does a good job of telling Tim’s story.”
View “Sound of Freedom” showtimes in Spokane.
