10 Things Sound of Freedom Gets Factually Right and Wrong

10 Things “Sound of Freedom” Gets Factually Right and Wrong

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining 10 Things “Sound of Freedom” Gets Factually Right and Wrong. For this list, we’ll be looking at the fact and fiction behind summer 2023’s biggest sleeper hit. We’ll be discussing the movie’s factual accuracy, rather than the far-fetched conspiracy theories that have been tied to the film. Due to the heavy subject matter, this is your mature content warning. Have you seen “Sound of Freedom?” Leave a respectful comment below.

The Inciting Incident

Right “Sound of Freedom” is a film that has received praise and criticism, especially in terms of its factual accuracy. One of the events depicted that did reportedly take place is the inciting one. The film opens in Honduras where brother and sister, Miguel and Rocío, are taken to a supposed casting call by their father. But when their father returns to pick them up, he finds no trace of them or the woman he left them with. Tim Ballard, whom the film is based on, has admitted that this particular event was inspired by the acts of a woman named Kelly Johana Suarez, a former beauty queen who used her reputation to orchestrate such crimes.

“Timoteo” Necklace

Right After seeking to make a more direct impact in saving a child, the movie’s Tim gets his first success when he’s able to intercept Miguel being transported through the Mexico–US border. While the name of the real-life Miguel hasn’t been disclosed, this is how Ballard came to put him in protective custody. Soon after in the film, Miguel gives Tim his sister Rocío’s necklace with the name “Timoteo” on it. While “Timoteo” being Tim’s name in Spanish makes this a huge coincidence, this is what actually happened, though it took Ballard’s son pointing it out at home for him to make the connection. This proves to be a major motivator for Tim, as it did for Ballard in real life.

The Average Victim

Wrong One of the biggest grievances that anti-trafficking experts have is the movie’s depiction of the average victim of human trafficking. In real life, about half of all victims are adult women. Most victims are trafficked for labor. The majority of young victims are actually teenagers. They also find fault with the movie’s portrayal of how victims are trapped. Victims are more likely to already be in vulnerable situations, with poverty playing a key role. In this sense, many experts find that the film doesn’t accurately convey the root causes and champion preventative measures.

Strangers

Wrong The real-life Tim Ballard has stated that the featured villains in the movie are all drawn from criminals he’s encountered in his career, including the aforementioned Suarez. However, another generalization the movie seems to get wrong is the average perpetrator. Early in the film, we see a chilling montage of people absconding with seemingly random youths. Experts have also called this out for being inaccurate, as victims are more likely to know their aggressors than not. Often, perpetrators are locals, friends, or even family members, many of whom offer false promises. So again, you have another instance of the film supposedly not addressing the systemic issue at play.

Vampiro

Right About halfway through the film, Tim meets a man in Colombia known as Vampiro, played by Bill Camp, a well-off individual who has taken to using his resources to fight the system from the inside. Some time later, we learn Vampiro had his revelation after an encounter with someone far too young. Reportedly, Vampiro was a real-life player in Ballard’s operation, who also went by “Batman.” However, his backstory was embellished. Not only did the real Vampiro not go to prison earlier in life, but the trafficked individual he dealt with was a full-grown adult who instead had a daughter who was in much the same situation.

Tim Resigns

Right Through much of the film, Tim has difficulty getting backing from his Homeland Security Investigations overseers. Instead of returning to the US, he’s compelled to continue his search for Rocío and thus resigns his position. In real life, Ballard was conducting a joint operation in both Colombia and Haiti at the time, and was much less confident about his decision. He revealed that when he called his wife Katherine like in the movie, part of him wanted her to ask him to come home. But the real Katherine also spurred him on, though it had a little more to do with their religious beliefs.

Operation Underground Railroad

Right After leaving Homeland Security, Tim starts his own ventures in ensuring the safety of the young people. While we only see these early dealings, this is what would eventually turn into Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), a nonprofit organization that focuses its efforts on anti-trafficking. OUR conducts sting operations to rescue victims. It has also been accused however of ties to conspiracy theories, and embellishing reports of its work. Leading anti-trafficking expert Anne Gallagher criticized the organization as unethical and as lacking understanding about how to dismantle criminal networks. This has made the organization a controversial one.

External Funding

Right As mentioned before, Tim pulling out of Homeland Security leaves him without financial backing to continue his investigation. He’s eventually introduced to a wealthy Colombian citizen named Paul, whom he persuades to help them by appealing to his moral center. In reality, Ballard was actually assisted in this way by political commentator Glenn Beck, who helped raise the funds for them to continue their subsequent operations. Ballard has said that Beck was even written into the movie, but that his part was cut for time restraints. We can also see how Beck’s presence may have been a little distracting narratively.

Operation Triple Take

Right One of the most heart-pounding sequences in the film is when Tim and his team lure traffickers and their victims to a remote island. While they don’t find Rocío, they do rescue fifty-four and arrest all the conspirators. Though the film has been called out for embellishing certain details, this is one that was surprisingly lowballed to the audience. Not only did Operation Triple Take, in which Suarez was detained, actually happen, but the rescue count was much higher in reality. In total, over 120 trafficked individuals were accounted for, with the majority of them actually being adults.

One-Man Rescue Mission

Wrong After failing to locate Rocío, Tim learns that she may be being held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia deep in the Amazon. Posing as doctors, he and Vampiro make their way toward the compound, with Tim ultimately getting the job done himself. While Ballard conducted a similar operation, it was on the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and they were instead looking for someone named Gardy, whom they still haven’t found. Ballard also never conducted a one-man mission, nor did he kill a captor along the way. It’s the most sensational part of the movie, so it’s not hard to see that it’s also the most fictionalized.