"Sound of Freedom" | Is the most controversial movie of the year based on a true story?

"Sound of Freedom" premiered in Brazil on September 21st, carrying the reputation of being the most controversial film of the year. Beyond accusations that the movie is a propaganda tool for far-right conspiracy theories, one of the criticisms is that it isn't truly based on a real story.

In an interview with Omelete, the director of "Sound of Freedom", Alejandro Monteverde, stated that he "wasn't making a documentary" and thus, the movie would be "roughly 80% accurate":

"Some of our discussions [about how to tell the story] lasted three months until he realized that I needed to take creative liberties because people will watch the movie," the director revealed about conversations he had with Tim Ballard, who inspired "Sound of Freedom". "I said, 'This is to start a conversation about child trafficking, but it needs to entertain.'"

"Ask him if he ever had a gun pointed at his head in Colombia [as shown in the movie]. He didn't! I asked him: 'Have you ever had a gun pointed at your head?' He said yes, in Haiti. I replied: 'Great, now it will happen in Colombia.'"

"Sound of Freedom" is the film adaptation of the story of Tim Ballard, a U.S. government special agent responsible for arresting pedophiles for over a decade, saving the lives of countless children, even though he never brought any of them back to their homes.

Faced with this reality, Ballard, portrayed in the movie by Jim Caviezel (Jesus Christ in "The Passion of the Christ", 2004), sees an opportunity to shift the focus of his work. On his first mission, he successfully rescues young Miguel (Lucás Ávila, "Enfermeras"), returning him to his father, Roberto (José Zúñiga, "Twilight").

However, Miguel's sister, Rocío (Cristal Aparicio, "Lost"), who was kidnapped with him, remains missing. This drives Ballard, a Christian man, husband, and father of five, to put himself in Roberto's shoes and dedicate his efforts to rescuing the girl and many other children, victims of international sex trafficking.

The film's cast also includes Mira Sorvino ("After - The Promise"), Bill Camp ("12 Years a Slave"), Javier Godino ("The Secret in Their Eyes"), Yessica Borroto Perryman ("Four Seasons in Havana"), Eduardo Verástegui ("Mall Cop 2"), and Gustavo Sánchez Parra ("Amores Perros").

In the U.S., right after its release, "Sound of Freedom" was accused of being a platform for the QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory claiming that there exists a global elite of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophiles who kidnap children to drink their blood.

Despite the accusations, "Sound of Freedom" became a hit. Since its U.S. premiere in July, it has grossed over US$ 180 million (around R$ 876 million at the current rate) in box office collections in the U.S. alone, attracting attention from movie markets worldwide.