Sound of Freedom: Is the child trafficking drama a watershed moment for ‘faith-based’ filmmaking?

Depending on whom you ask, the surprise hit US film Sound of Freedom is a “provocative and gripping” film offering “moral clarity” on a harrowing, child-threatening issue – or else it is a “QAnon-tinged thriller… designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer.” Either way, it’s clear this movie is not just a movie. It has become something else, something more.

In keeping with this, the idea that a humble audience eager to crowdfund “values-based films” – as Neil Harmon, co-founder and CEO of Angel Studios, calls them – is giving liberal Hollywood a run for their money comes through in a lot of Angel’s marketing strategies. For example, in a promotional video on Angel’s website, an actor explicitly differentiates Angel’s audiences from Hollywood decision-makers. “Hollywood has no idea what type of content actually matters to you,” he says. Whereas traditional Hollywood films are chosen by a handful of executives, Angel’s content is “chosen by the greatest executives of all time – you,” he says. “You are the best decision makers when it comes to film and TV.”