Sound of Freedom (2023)
Human trafficking never delivers full justice.
Presentation:
The beginning of this film is extremely well executed. You are immediately hooked by the almost Fincheresque cinematography, which strangely turns into a bit of an action film, never fully recovering. It will still create lumps in your throat and make you appalled in the pursuit of justice. Visually, the film is okay albeit not super consistent leading to B tier production.
Story:
The film begins with a gripping tale that hooks you in immediately. It demands your sympathy but due to overacting from the lead, it cheapens the experience a bit. Over-dramatization was really not necessary when you have such compelling source material. The film slowly goes downhill from there. Toward the middle, the film becomes emotionally inconsistent trying to somehow make the film more approachable for general audiences and less of a gutwrencher. I can understand this situation as the reality is too dark, but it undermines a lot of what the first act accomplishes. At some parts, the messaging becomes a bit too explicit, which also detracts from the experience. The action in the second half betrays the tone of the film and could even be considered flippant to the gravitas of the source material. The film could have very easily been exploitative, but remains respectful to children, though I wish they kept the same tone throughout.
Conclusion:
With such powerful source material, it's a bit disappointing that they didn't deliver a consistent tone for such an important message. As for the controversy, i think it does have subtle messaging though nowhere near as bad as other films on the other side of the political spectrum.
Recommendations
Claustrophobic immersion.