Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer
A “shipping delay” of the Sound of Freedom to the Glen Drive-In in Queensbury caused a social media dust-up this week.
Owner Brett Gardner booked the Jim Caviezel-led film, centered on the topic of child sex trafficking, to show last week, but said the drive did not arrive in time.
The Drive-In posted, “There seems to be some confusion on why we aren’t playing the film SOUND OF FREEDOM tonight.
“TO CLARIFY: It is completely OUT OF OUR CONTROL that we aren’t able to play the movie….AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE THE MOVIE WE WILL PLAY IT. If we didn’t want to play it we wouldn’t have booked the film in the first place!”
Some of the backlash was threatening.
One commenter, Petra Squires Campbell, wrote, “We were supposed to come tonight. If you don’t play this movie tomorrow my family will NEVER return and I will be sure to tell everyone I know. I will cost you every future customer I can via word of mouth and social media…or tomorrow night you WILL play the movie and get a good review from me. You’re welcome and I do NOT accept your apology for the inconvenience!”
The Drive-In deleted its whole post “because the comments were out of control.”
“We are a movie theater – we play movies. It’s that simple,” it added.
“We will play ANY movie that we think will bring in customers & enable us to continue running as a business. We have never & will never choose to play (or not play) a movie based on its politics.”
The movie was delivered and started showing Monday, July 17, scheduled to run through next Friday, July 28.
The movie from independent Angel Studio has become a hit, grossing $85-million as of Sunday and ranking second at the box office in a recent week.
The BBC said Rolling Stone condemned it as a “QAnon-tinged thriller.”
The BBC said, “The idea that elite cabals of child sex traffickers lurk everywhere is a core QAnon idea.”
But it said trade publication Variety called it a “solidly made and disquieting thriller” with “a Christian undercurrent that occasionally becomes an overcurrent.”
It’s got a solid 73% score on consumer website Rotten Tomatoes. Among the comments: “Sound of Freedom is a heartbreaking yet beautiful film that shines a light on the horrors of human-trafficking.”
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