A bold, new faith-based film is sweeping theaters, and it is worth your time.

Starring Jim Caviezel (famous for his lead role in “The Passion of the Christ”), “Sound of Freedom” tells the true story of Tim Ballard, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security tasked with hunting pedophiles and dismantling trafficking rings. After 12 years with DHS, he quit his job to rescue kidnapped children, a mission that carries him deep into the guerrilla-haunted jungles of South America.

Caviezel and the film’s producers have high hopes for it, and rightfully so. Despite a shoestring budget of just $14.5 million and an onslaught of attacks from left-wing midwits masquerading as movie critics, “Sound of Freedom” has already grossed $85 million at U.S. box offices. On July 16, it was the second-most successful film behind “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and earned nearly three times more than “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

As the horrors of child trafficking have swept the attention of the American public to a degree which seems unprecedented, the film’s release could hardly be more timely. In recent years, it has become mainstream knowledge that, for years, the now-deceased financier and serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had been hosting countless global elites on his hidden island resort in the Caribbean — an island to which countless underage women had been sex-trafficked.

Last week, news outlets set their eyes back on Oprah Winfrey as it was revealed that her spiritual healer had been sentenced to 99 years in prison for raping and abusing more than 600 women and young girls. Many of these victims had been enslaved on remote Brazilian “farms” and forced to give birth to children who would then be sold abroad for as much as $50,000.

And earlier this month, “Smallville” actress Allison Mack was released from prison early after serving time for her role in the New York-based NXIVM cult, where she procured women to serve as sex slaves for cult leader Keith Raniere.

Given all of this, the need for a movie like “Sound of Freedom” should be self-evident. But old guard film industry captains have blocked its road to the box office every step of the way, prompting many to wonder, “Why does Hollywood not want this movie out?”

The script was actually written in 2015, with filming complete in 2018. Shortly afterward, the film’s producers struck a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox. The movie should have been able to debut then, but the Walt Disney Company purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019, acquiring the rights to “Sound of Freedom” and shelving it for the next five years. Disney’s attempts to hide the film were successful until March 2023, when Angel Studios used equity crowdfunding to regain the worldwide redistribution rights.

Shifting attitudes surrounding moviegoers’ cultural preferences make it clear why a mass media mega-corporation like Disney would want to see “Sound of Freedom” memory-holed. Simply put: Americans are sick of woke propaganda. The late failure of Disney’s brown-washed, live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” (based on a Danish fairytale) is proof enough of this. And last week, the evil empire announced a live-action remake of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in production, starring Latina actress Rachel Zegler as the titular character. The film will also feature only one actual dwarf, replacing the other six with more generic fantasy creatures.

Aside from unwanted, racially charged reiterations of America’s most timeless tales, Hollywood has shown little interest in breaking its habit of bombarding audiences with new installments on the same tired, old franchises. Did anyone ask for yet another Indiana Jones film (especially with the failure of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” still fresh on our minds)?

And over at Warner Bros., “The Flash” is set to become one of the biggest box office bombs in history. The studio attempted to market the film by having Michael Keaton reprise his role as Batman, but with starring actor Ezra Miller accruing a lengthy series of legal issues including charges of strangling, harassment, felony burglary and even child grooming, the future of DC Comics’ cinematic universe remains as unclear as Miller’s acting career.

Of all the misconceptions about Hollywood, the most common is that it exists to produce entertainment. Hollywood’s first priority is, and always has been, the mass production of propaganda. In this, its subtlety is its superweapon. Cultural and political agendas, when marshaled through the medium of film, wear the masks of our favorite superheroes or slasher villains. They camouflage themselves in scenes of suspense, surprise, seriousness and satire. They make us giggle and grin, snicker and scream, chuckle and cry.

“Sound of Freedom” replaces propaganda with truth and morality — the enemies of the modern motion picture industry.

Reed Cooley is a writer and publicist from Laurel. His commentary has been featured on Fox News and in dozens of publications across the country.