Christian singer Lauren Daigle has weighed in on the hit Jim Caviezel-helmed “Sound of Freedom,” writing on her Instagram, “I am FOR the work of these heroes found in the film, and I will stand to see changes take place to represent kids both in America and around the world.” She went on to express her surprise at the ways the film has been criticized. “One thing I found very interesting is that people are having to defend this movie. This is insane to me that this would even be something that needs to be defended. Children being harmed should never be something we question whether we need to defend or not! I saw a lot of pretty inflammatory news articles and headlines and people trying to shut this film down,” she said on her page.
She stated that the story resonated with her personally, as she used to raise money for an anti-trafficking organization while she attended college. “And it was my friends and I. We would host these 5K races to raise money for this organization called A21 that went in and helped children get out of the sex industry.” Daigle had plans to become a pro-bono lawyer for victims of trafficking victims at the time.
“I never in a million years thought that this would be something that people could actually split hairs about, that people could actually argue about,” said Daigle, referring to criticisms the film has received. “It’s wild that this could remotely be a topic that people could argue, debate, question, children being put in harm’s way by the people, adults that are supposed to be protecting them in life. This should never be up for question. This should never be up for debate!” She went on to add that “Children who are entrusted into the hands of adults, who are brought into this world by adults, these kids look up to adults to say, ‘You’re my protector.’ And then the adults use that power and that privilege to completely obliterate the lives of others based upon greed.”
Rolling Stone called the film a “Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms,” and other news sites have accused the film of being “Qanon adjacent.” Many critics have claimed that Jim Caviezel, who plays Tim Ballard in the film, promotes Q-anon conspiracy theories and that the film is “right-wing propaganda.” Daigle pushed back against those criticisms. “God doesn’t take this stuff lightly,” she said. “So, for every person who is out there that thinks that this movie is just stupid people trying to praise QAnon, or whatever the stupid conspiracy is, you got something else coming for you because this is not something that God takes lightly.” She shared statistics to show the very real problem of human trafficking. “Cinema tells the story of love and makes you fall in love with people all around you. It shares stories of sorrow, shares stories of darkness, shares stories of goodness. Cinema is like the advocate of the human experience. So, I don’t understand why when this particular human experience is shared, there would be a revolt unless there’s something going on under the surface,” she said.
“Sound of Freedom” continues to shatter expectations at the box office. It has made over $160 million domestically and is set to be released worldwide, starting with South Africa on August 18 and continuing to places like New Zealand, Mexico, and the UK, amongst others.