Here Are Right-Wing FiguresFrom Donald Trump To Steve BannonChampioning Surprise Hit Sound of Freedom

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The Sound of Freedom, the surprise summer hit about child sex trafficking, is doing big at the box office despite the controversy surrounding its lead actor’s QAnon ties, thanks to its massive popularity with conservative audiences and promotion by right-wing politicians and media figures from Donald Trump to Sean Hannity.

“Sound of Freedom” star Jim Caviezel has given interviews to several right-wing hosts to promote … [+] The movie. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

Getty Images Basic Facts

Former President Donald Trump held a Sound of Freedom screening at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Wednesday, with Trump allies Steve Bannon, Kari Lake and more.

Trump who appointed Tim Ballard, the inspiration for the films, to a State Department human trafficking advisory council in 2019 and is reported to have made exaggerated statements about human trafficking previously shared a trailer to the film on his social media platform, Truth Social, stating that Ben Carson urged him to post it.

Sean Hannity interviewed the film’s star, Jim Caviezel, on his Fox News show on Tuesday, praising his work on the film and urging his viewers to watch it because people need to know this evil exists.

Conservative professor and podcast host Jordan Peterson interviewed Caviezel and the films real-life inspiration, former government agent Tim Ballard, in a lengthy discussion in which Ballard said he condemns most of what he sees in conspiracy theories, but claims that children in Africa are suffering from adrenochrome harvesting which refers to a conspiracy theory that baselessly claims chemical retention in children.

On Bannons podcast, Caviezel also promoted the adrenochrome theory, saying demand for the chemical is to blame for child trafficking, and falsely claiming it is “10 times more powerful than heroin” and “has some mystical properties to the point of making you look younger.”

Caviezel also appeared on a conservative YouTube show hosted by Benny Johnson, where the two discussed religion more, lamenting the alleged removal of God from movies and saying Christians are being marginalized.

Johnson asked Caviezel to respond to media criticism of Sound of Freedom, where he said he hoped a millstone would be hung around their necks, that they would be thrown into the sea if they hurt one of these little ones, a reference to the Matthew 18:6 Bible verse.

Several elected officials are presenting the film, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who tweeted Wow. wow wow SEE the #SoundOfFreedom.

Key Background

The Sound of Freedom stars Caviezel as Ballard, following a fictional quest to rescue Honduran children kidnapped in Colombia based on the Ballards’ real-life rescue missions. Ballard, who previously worked for the Department of Homeland Security, is the founder of Operation Underground Railroad, an organization that conducts sting operations to rescue children from sex traffickers. The film caused controversy and became the target of a culture war due to the Caviezels’ association with conspiracy theories and investigative reports suggesting that Operation Underground Railroad exaggerated its role in sex-trafficking rescues. Caviezel has previously spoken at conventions for QAnon, the conspiracy theory that a major group of global elites who worship Satan run the world, and are involved in a global child trafficking ring. Both Caviezel and Ballard have expressed openness to the adrenochrome conspiracy theory, and Ballard has previously suggested support for the debunked theory that online furniture retailer Wayfair sells children’s toys. The film has a 74% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with several publications, such as Variety, praising it as a compelling film that shines a true light on one of the important criminal horrors of our time. Others were more critical, such as Rolling Stone, which criticized it for fetishizing the torture of child victims and considered it a gateway to far-right conspiracy theories.

Against

Neal Harmon, chief executive of film distributor Angel Studios, told The New York Times: Anyone who sees this movie knows that this movie is not about conspiracy theories, saying it’s not about politics.

Chief Critics

Because Ballard and Caviezel talked about conspiracy theories in interviews with right-wing personalities while promoting The Sound of Freedom, the film was marketed to QAnon believers, Mike Rothschild, a journalist who wrote The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything, told NPR.

Big Numbers

$100 million. How much has The Sound of Freedom earned at the domestic box office so far since its July 4 opening. That’s a bigger domestic total this year than hit movies like M3GAN, Cocaine Bear, Air and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It is the 16th highest-grossing domestic film this year and by $10 million it has surpassed The Flash and Scream VI.

Further Reading

Box Office Hit Sound Of Freedom ControversyIncluding QAnon Ties And False Claims Theaters Are Sabotaging ScreeningsExplained (Forbes)

The Adrenochrome Conspiracy Theory Pushed By Sound Of Freedom StarExplained (Forbes)

Jim Caviezel’s Faith-Based Thriller Sound of Freedom Crosses $100 Million at the Box Office (Variety)

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