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Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. took to social media to share his review of the controversial film Sound of Freedom.
Beckham Jr. — who signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Ravens during the offseason — said that the film was so “heavy” that he “doesn’t even know what to say.”
“Sound of Freedom. I don’t even know what to say. That’s heavy,” Beckham tweeted on Wednesday evening.
Sound of Freedom.
I don’t even kno what to say. That’s heavy.
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) August 10, 2023
Sound of Freedom dramatizes the career of former Department of Homeland Security official and Operation Underground Railroad founder Tim Ballard. Released in theaters earlier this summer after originally being shot in 2018, the film has become one of the biggest box office successes of the year as it’s grossed $160 million domestically.
Those figures, however, have been called into question as Angel Studios, the studio behind the film, has been utilizing a “Pay It Forward” program which allows people to purchase tickets as a “donation” to others, which are then counted in the box office totals regardless of whether or not they’ve actually been used.
As for how the money from unredeemed tickets is being used, Angel Studios’ website has the following disclaimer:
“Upon submitting my Pay It Forward contribution, I acknowledge and agree that Angel Studios will make reasonable efforts to use Pay It Forward ticket sales for the audience growth of the intended film or series. However, Angel Studios becomes the owner of all funds upon receipt and may use them at its sole discretion to further the Angel Studios’ mission of amplifying light through impactful stories.”
Furthermore, reports from earlier this month revealed that Fabian Marta, one of the “angel investors” in the film, had been arrested and charged with child kidnapping.
The film stars Jim Caviezel, best known as playing Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, as Ballard. In recent years, Caviezel has become a controversial figure in Hollywood as he has publicly and repeatedly endorsed QAnon conspiracy theories such as “adrenochroming” and Satanic rituals.
In addition to The Passion of the Christ, Caviezel’s credits include My Own Private Idaho, The Rock, G.I. Jane, The Thin Red Line, Deja Vu, and the CBS series Person of Interest. He was also originally cast as Cyclops in the original X-Men film but dropped out to star in the movie Frequency instead,
Alongside Caviezel, the cast of Sound of Freedom features Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp, Eduardo Verástegui, Javier Godino, José Zúñiga, Kurt Fuller, Gary Basaraba, and more.