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Sound of Freedom (2023)

Sound of Freedom is the story of a former U.S. government agent, who quit his job in order to devote his life to rescuing children from global sex traffickers. While working for the government, Tim Ballard saw how much more was needed in the fight against child trafficking and exploitation across the world.

Sound of Freedom is a 2023 American crime thriller film directed and co-written by Alejandro Monteverde, and starring Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino and Bill Camp. Jim Caviezel plays Tim Ballard, a former U.S. government agent who embarks on a mission to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia.

Tim Ballard established Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) back in 2013. It is still standing today as a non-profit organization that helps save children and everyone from sex trafficking.

«Sound of Freedom» Plot | Spoiler alert

In Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Roberto, a poor father of two, is approached by a former beauty queen, Gisselle. She offers to sign his young children, Miguel and Rocío, to child modeling contracts. He accepts and takes them to the photoshoot. However, when he returns to pick his children up, he finds no one in the building. It is revealed that the children were sold to be used as sex slaves.

Tim Ballard is a Homeland Security agent assigned to investigate and catch a wanted child predator named Ernst Oshinsky. The team of agents makes it into Oshinsky's house and arrests him. While Tim has captured nearly 300 pedophiles, he knows he has unfortunately not been able to find any of their victims.

Tim gets Oshinsky out of his cell and tries to convince him that he is also a pedophile, in an attempt to gain his trust and find out new information on captured children. They set up a purchase in which a child called «Teddy Bear» (who is actually Miguel) will be brought to him. As Tim gets all the information he needs from Oshinsky, officers put him back in his cell.

Tim and the other agents go to Mexico, where Miguel's buyer named, Earl Backman, arrives with the kid. The agents get Miguel, and Tim speaks to him, offering comfort and taking him out for some food. During that time, Miguel talks about his time being taken and imprisoned for what appears to have been months.

Miguel tells Tim that his sister, Rocio, is still captured and asks him to help find her. He also shows Tim a St. Timothy necklace, which Rocio had given to him to keep him safe. Tim brings Miguel back to his father.

Tim returns home to his wife Katherine, with whom he has six kids. She is sympathetic to Roberto's pain, which spurns Tim's decision to take down the sex traffickers, even though his boss Frost advises him against it.

Tim's mission brings him to Cartagena, Colombia, where the children have been brought to. He meets with a former cartel member, Vampiro, in an effort to work together. After learning about a sex hotel in Thailand, he comes up with the idea to set one up there in Colombia to lure Gisselle and her men.

Vampiro gets a Colombian police officer, Jorge, and a wealthy citizen named Paulo Delgado to help with Tim's mission. Tim's supervisor, Frost, is unable to provide funding for the operation and asks him to return to the U.S. Tim resigns his position rather than abandon the search for Rocío.

Frost is able to persuade the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Colombia to assist with Tim's rescue operation. Undercover, they convince Giselle to sell them 54 children, successfully arrest all of the conspirators and free the children, but Rocío is not among them. Vampiro tells Tim he is the «sound of freedom» after 54 kids were rescued that day.

After interrogating one of Gisselle's associates, Jorge learns that Rocío was sold as a slave to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, entrenched deep in the Amazon natural region behind enemy territory.

Vampiro suggests that doctors can get into the region for medical purposes, which gives Tim the idea to pose as doctors. Jorge reluctantly agrees to the risky operation. Tim and Vampiro attempt to enter enemy territory in disguise, but the rebels refuse to let both of them enter, leaving Tim to complete the mission alone.

Tim successfully gains access to the enemy camp where Rocío is being held. He learns that she is being used as the personal sex slave for the rebel leader, El Alacrán ("the scorpion"), and is also being forced to mash coca leaves to produce cocaine to fund the rebel war against the Colombian government.

At night, Tim waits for Scorpion and his goons to drink and sing songs while he tries to rescue Rocio. She screams upon seeing him, but he gets her to calm down and do as he says. Unfortunately, Scorpion heard the scream and goes to check on her. Tim fights Scorpion until he kills him. He takes Rocio with him before the other men notice their boss is dead. Tim hops on a boat and reaches Vampiro in a van as the rebels shoot after them, but their escape is successful.

Before parting ways, Tim gives Rocio back the St. Timothy necklace that Miguel gave him. She is found in the hospital by Roberto and Miguel, who happily reunite with her and bring her back to Honduras.

The ending text states that the real Tim Ballard's work in testifying to Congress helped recover over 120 victims of trafficking, and established new laws for governments to cooperate with foreign countries in sex trafficking investigations. Tim's wife Kathy is credited for his decision to take on the mission. The final text states that there are more people sold into slavery today than when slavery was legal, and many of the victims are children.

Best quotes from «Sound of Freedom» movie

As lead actor Jim Caviezel states in the film: «God's children are not for sale!». In an interview he stated: We believe this movie has the power to be a huge step forward toward ending child trafficking but it will only have that effect if millions of people see it.

«This job tears you to pieces. And this is my one chance to put those pieces back together.»

«You can sell a bag of cocaine one time. But a child, the most precious child, you can sell a five-year-old kid 5 to 10 times a day for 10 years straight.»

«Over two million children a year are being sucked into the deepest recesses of hell. Trust me, man, if we do nothing, their pain is going to spread and spread until someday it's going to reach the likes of you. And that will be a nightmare that you're never going to wake up from.»

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