Could it be that QAnon has its first box office smash hit?

Sound of Freedom, the true(ish) story of Tim Ballard — a homeland security agent who leaves the government and sets up Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), an anti-human trafficking outfit that rescues children from sex traffickers in South America — wouldn’t be all that noteworthy in another era. The US has been churning out films of this sort — florid, paranoid vigilante fantasies, at once laced with self-loathing and psychotically patriotic — since at least 1974.

That this film took out the No. 1 spot in the US over the weekend might be interesting because it did so without major studio backing. It was partly crowdfunded and seemingly successfully courted its faith-based audience.

But this is 2023, so that’s not all.

Sound of Freedom has managed the reputation as the first QAnon blockbuster. This is partly down to some of star Jim Caviezel’s theories. In 2021 he attended the “Health and Freedom Conference”– a “rally of COVID-deniers and QAnon lunatics”, according to Vanity Fair.

If the fact that former attorney and alleged January 6 Capitol riot inciter L. Lin Wood had attendees applauding furiously by miming a “Q” in the air doesn’t quite capture the flavour, Caviezel talked about the baseless theories around organ harvesting and “Adrenochroming” of trafficked children. At the subtly named “For God & Country: Patriot Double Down” event later the same year, Caviezel spouted the QAnon catchphrase: “We are headed into the storm of all storms. Yes, the Storm is upon us.” Rolling Stone has called the film a “superhero movie for dads with brainworms”.

But Ballard has from time to time indulged in theories that could be described as Q-adjacent, such as the Wayfair trafficking hoax (Ballard has insisted his organisation doesn’t want QAnon adherents’ support). Not to mention its tactics, like the usually foolproof “asking a psychic where to find victims” (it didn’t work, but Ballard at least came away knowing that he would soon feel a sense of clarity over a troubling personal relationship), which have led to botched raids that the group is accused of distorting.

Ballard has “recently stepped away” from Operation Underground Railroad, incidentally.

None of this has stopped right-wing media figures such as Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson from supporting the film, while former US president Donald Trump has organised a screening at his Bedminster Gold Club (the same golf club where he may have committed some very light crimes).

The film makes no explicit reference to QAnon theories and the makers deny any connection. “Anyone who has seen this movie knows it has nothing to do with conspiracy theories,” Angel Studios president Jordan Harmon said. “It’s about a man who did something brave.”

It may not be about conspiracy theories, but it sure is attracting them. There’s been a flurry of posts showing empty cinemas screening the film, despite apparently being sold out. And there have been allegations that screenings have been sabotaged.

So just *who* is trying to stop the people from seeing this film? Just which of those elites doesn’t want the shocking truth about child trafficking to reach American eyeballs? In the words of one poster: “Why don’t don’t paedo-enablers, rogue iNfLuEncErs, and mainstream media outlets want you to see this movie?”

Well, it could be a conspiracy, or it could be down to the movie’s “pay it forward” marketing. You can spend up to US$10,000 (A$14,657) on tickets for the film for other people to claim. Or not claim, as the case may be.