Sound Of Freedom – a new religious thriller about a special agent who embarks on a child trafficking case rescue mission – has become an unlikely summer hit.
The film, which has also been tangled up in online conspiracy theories, has been a box office success, grossing $85million (£65million).
Sound Of Freedom is inspired by the experiences of former Homeland Security Agent Tim Ballard (played by Jim Caviezel), who spent more than a decade break up child-trafficking rings.
A synopsis for the film reads: “The incredible true story of a former government agent turned vigilante who embarks on a dangerous mission to rescue hundreds of children from sex traffickers.”
The film has been described as a QAnon “adjacent” and “tinged” thriller in The Guardian and Rolling Stone, respectively – referring to the American far-right conspiracy theory that some of the worst’s most powerful political and cultural elite are engaged in trafficking, pedophilia, child abuse and many other unfounded theories.
Conspiracy theories related to the film included right-wing speculation that theatre company AMC wanted to sabotage screenings.
As the BBC notes, some negative coverage of the film also related to Caviezel seemingly having embraced QAnon theories in the past.
The film’s distributor, Angel Studios, denied the film is connected to conspiracy theories, and the CEO of AMC Theatres, Adam Aron, also shut down theories related to the theatre screenings on Twitter.
Some viewers have also read Sound Of Freedom as a “faith-based film”.
Despite the conspiracy theories surrounding it, the film has performed well at the box office, but reviews have been mixed.
Variety described it as “compelling movie that shines an authentic light on one of the crucial criminal horrors of our time, one that Hollywood has mostly shied away from”.
However, RogerEbert.com said the film was a “solemn, drawn-out bore”.
Rolling Stone described it Sound Of Freedom as a “superhero movie for dads with brainworms”, adding that the “QAnon-tinged thriller about child-trafficking is designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer”.
The film current has a critic’s score of 73 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 100 per cent audience score.
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