Film: Sound of Freedom

Sound of Freedom which has been a surprise summer hit in the United States is set to hit UK cinemas and streaming platforms mid- August. It hopes to be the 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' of 21st century slavery, shining a spotlight and raising concern about the human trafficking of children. Made for $14 million the film has already recouped more than 4 times its original costs.

Produced by Metanoia Films, which made the heart warming pro-life film 'Bella', I wondered how director Alejandro Monteverde would tackle such a grisly theme. And it is beautifully filmed, scored and edited - a master class in showing how you can suggest the most horrific things without showing anything at all! Never have closed doors and curtains and silence been used to such great effect! Watching the grooming of the excited young children, who think they are going to a TV audition, was almost unbearable. It made me wonder how I would be able to last the two hours of the film that lay ahead.

But I needn't have worried. The majority of the film concentrates on the hero's attempt to rescue two of the trafficked Honduran children, Rocio (Cristal Aparicio) and Miguel 'Teddy Bear' (Lucas Avila), who are both suitably adorable. Sound of Freedom is thus more of an action thriller than a sociological drama looking at the issue of child trafficking. The focus is on buffed up men, taking on and taking out the baddies, Mission Impossible style, in a series of exciting stings and raids.

The film is actually based on the exploits of a real person, Tim Ballard, a Mormon and father of nine children. A former homeland security agent he was fed up with all the red tape, he encountered in his work. This led him to set up his own international agency (Operation Underground Railroad) to rescue trafficked children. Apparently he asked specifically for Jim Caviezel to play him in the film. And Caviezel is perfect in the role, full of messianic zeal and righteousness as he wages a personal war against the paedophiles and scum who traffic children.

There is not much nuance in the story. Maybe it doesn't matter, as there is enough about this horrible trade to keep reminding you - amidst the action sequences - about what they fighting against and working for. The film has a happy ending whereas in reality this is a much more complex issue. Often children are not just snatched from loving parents, but rather poverty stricken parents sell their children to criminal gangs, and so there is no going home for them. Recovery from sexual abuse and exploitation, takes a long time and some survivors never get over it. Those who molest, moreover, have often been molested themselves in childhood. This is glossed over in Sound of Freedom with its emphasis on a physical rescue mission.

Having said that, this film does bring an important issue to light which is not often covered in popular cinema. Hopefully it may encourage some of viewers to do more than just watch the film. For all its gung ho spirit there was enough in it to shake my complacency. And this is probably all that a film can expect to do.

Tickets available: www.angel.com/tickets/sound-of-freedom/uk

Watch a trailer: https://youtu.be/PrnznUYWzo0 S