TV & Movies

Sound of Freedom director asks viewers: “Don’t be mean to me”

Daisy Phillipson
Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard in Sound of FreedomAngel Studios

The director behind the surprise hit Sound of Freedom said, “Don’t be mean to me,” to the audience at a recent London screening, while slapping down the movie’s alleged links to QAnon.

Unless you’ve been on a social media hiatus for the past couple of months, you will have heard about Sound of Freedom. Proving to be a box office smash, the indie film has been the talk of the town ever since it dropped in US cinemas on July 4, telling the true story of Tim Ballard and his quest to put an end to child sex trafficking. 

But the sinister subject matter has been drowned out by a heated debate. On the one hand, there’s lead star Jim Caviezel’s previous support of QAnon, with the movie being accused of playing into right wing conspiracy theories. On the other, Sound of Freedom fans claim Disney purposely shelved the project and cinemas have been sabotaging screenings, the latter of which was later debunked. 

As new twists unfold in this ongoing saga, director Alejandro Monteverde has been speaking out to try and distance his film from the narrative, pleading with audiences to see Sound of Freedom and form their own opinions. 

Sound of Freedom director asks viewers: “Don’t be mean to me”

As reported by The Guardian, Monteverde appeared at a Gala screening of Sound of Freedom in London last Thursday, 24 August, where he asked those present: “Don’t be mean to me, man. Most of the media are so mean to me.” 

The filmmaker went on to describe the headlines surrounding the movie as “heartbreaking,” adding: “Anything that goes political divides. When a director makes a movie there is no contract on what people can say after. What people say after the movie, the director has minus 100% control.”

Let it be known that while Caviezel previously expressed his belief in adrenochroming – the theory that Satanic Hollywood elitists torture children and drink their blood to reap the benefits of a life-giving compound called adrenochrome – the QAnon movement didn’t exist when Monteverde started developing Sound of Freedom in 2015. 

While discussing the actor’s previous comments, Monteverde explained: “I hire people to work on my movie. What they do after is their choice. Do I agree with everything that people do after? Absolutely not.”

The Guardian went on to say that a “‘special message’ added in by Angel Studios and delivered by Caviezel that plays over the end credits” calls the movie “the 21st-century version of the 1852 anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” 

It goes on to urge viewers to scan a QR code on their phone, directing them to a website where they can take part in the distributor’s Pay It Forward scheme, which offers the option to purchase tickets for others who may not be able to see the film. 

Even this has sparked controversy, as some cinemagoers claimed to have attended empty screenings of supposedly “sold out” shows. A theory soon circulated accusing the Sound of Freedom backers of astroturfing, although Angel Studios has since shut down these claims. 

Either way, the Pay It Forward scheme has been brought to the UK, one of numerous countries where Sound of Freedom is enjoying its international theatrical release – you can read more about the film’s global release dates here. 

Sound of Freedom is in cinemas now, and you can check out our other coverage of the movie below:

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