God’s children are not for sale.

This is the message of the movie Sound of Freedom, which was released on July 4. Although I rarely go to the movie theater, I went yesterday afternoon with a group of friends to see it.

Sound of Freedom is based on a true story and on real people. The main character, Tim Ballard, is a Homeland Security agent who winds up rescuing a group of children who have been trafficked – no, let’s just say what it is: Sold into slavery. “Trafficked,” while certainly accurate (and useful as a broad term), is a bit too vague for what really happens. Slavery is more accurate; the selling of the body and soul of a human being, whether for labor or sex.

I’m not writing a movie review here, but I will say that the film was extremely moving and incredibly well done. The difficult parts (what am I saying? The whole movie is difficult) are handled in a sensitive manner – no children were exploited in the filming. The casting is amazing. Having a decent bit of acting under my belt, I can say that I stand grateful to and deeply impressed by the actors who were cast as the most vile and heinous of villains. They were horribly, dreadfully believable , and brought home the fact that yes, scum like this exists.

And that’s why it’s important to see the movie. It becomes impossible to ignore the fact that there are millions of people (and many of them children) being bought and sold throughout the world.

Shockingly, the movie has met with some controversy. I’m astonished at the online articles that approach the movie with a “yes – but” attitude. There is the token requisite “of course, child sex slavery is bad” followed by the “BUT….” It isn’t entirely accurate! Gasp! It didn’t happen exactly that way! And someone associated with the movie has read “QAnon!” Conspiracy theorists! Misinformation!! In real life, Tim Ballard’s daring mission was funded by Glenn Beck. Right wing extremist!! “Dangerous conspiracy theory!” “Cultural war battleground!”

Ah. OK, so if a movie takes some creative license and doesn’t stick exactly to all the facts, it’s bad. And if I don’t like something that one of the filmmakers or actors believes, the movie should be condemned. Right. (Darn, I was really looking forward to another Tom Cruise action flick….)

Really, Satan, is that the best you can do to attempt to discredit this?

And why in the world is this even becoming politicized? Do you really mean that we can’t all agree that exploiting and selling children as sex slaves is EVIL? Seriously?? Critics point out that “most children trafficked aren’t taken this way.” Does it matter how they wind up being bought, sold and used? (Perhaps one of the reasons for the politicization is that open borders do carry an increased likelihood of trafficking of all kinds. Hmmmmm, maybe we should look at that?) The tragic fact is that there are more enslaved humans today than ever before.

Sound of Freedom has made $125 million (so far) at the box office. This indie movie – with a measly budget of $14.5 million and a limited number of theaters – has used the power and artistry of the big screen to move and inform audiences in a deep and profound way. Yes, it’s a hard subject. Yes, it will hit you in the gut. Yes, you might cry.

And yes, you absolutely should go see it.

#soundoffreedommovie