Strangely, the same media that was applauding Tim Ballard’s harrowing story of rescuing children from child traffickers just 10 years ago is now referring to the film as a “Q-Anon adjacent” movie that stars a rabid conspiracy theorist who might be a bit too close to Christianity for comfort. “News” organizations like CNN have spent a good deal of time and effort trying to make this movie seem like a far-right hangout meant only to benefit conservatives.

Why the sudden swap in the narrative is anybody’s guess, and trust me, there’s been a lot of guesses. Whenever you try to bring down a film that centers around child trafficking, people begin to wonder why.

Perhaps, the media’s breathless pearl-clutching over the film is part of the reason it’s become so popular. If they hate it, then it must be good.

(READ: The ‘Sound of Freedom’ Shows the Culture Is Slipping Through the Media’s Fingers)

But the nasty reporting about the film doesn’t just stop at reporting. There’s a purpose to this false alarmism, and it’s to get people to act. When it comes to Sound of Freedom, it’s suspected that people are indeed acting against it, namely at AMC theaters.

You’ve likely seen the rumors that people’s tickets are being mysteriously refunded or that the air conditioning in theater rooms where it’s being screened suddenly goes off in the midst of summer. One viral TikTok had a lady note that the entirety of the AMC theater had perfectly working A/C but the only one that went out was the room screening Sound of Freedom.

AMC refunded an entire theater of tickets to Sound of Freedom due to lack of AC.

This lady showed up an anyway and wants answers.

"There was air conditioning in the lobby, in the hallway, in the bathrooms. Not the theaters? I smell something stinky."pic.twitter.com/tvFGIIaDJX

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 8, 2023

This launched the suspicion that AMC is intentionally sabotaging the film in order to damage its box office earnings and stop people from seeing the film.

That theory never sat right with me. While I don’t think AMC is the most stand-up company in the world, I don’t see any real motive for the company to intentionally reduce its own income and damage its relationship with a studio that is clearly gaining traction with the public. Moreover, as the Daily Wire reported, Angel Studios, the film’s distributor, reassured the public that AMC is actually being very helpful and even offered to open up more theaters to screen the movie in:

“We understand there are rumors — predominantly in social media — that AMC theaters have made it difficult for fans to see SOUND of FREEDOM in local AMC theaters, and we want to make it clear these rumors are not accurate,” Brandon Purdie, Head of Angel Theatrical Distribution, said in a press release sent to The Daily Wire.

Purdie said AMC “has been an outstanding partner for Angel Studios,” adding that AMC has actually agreed to add additional screens for “Sound of Freedom” this coming weekend due to the film’s stellar performance.

“Angel Studios and the producers of SOUND OF FREEDOM are asking our fans to support AMC, and all of our other theatrical partners,” the executive added. “Summer is the busiest season for people working in theaters, so we ask that anyone attending a screening of SOUND OF FREEDOM show kindness to their local theater staff. We have the best movie fans in the business. Let’s continue to show theaters the love that Angel supporters are known for.”

I can believe that AMC and Angel actually have a pretty healthy relationship. With movie theaters still struggling to bring in the bucks in general, AMC is likely to avoid having a bad relationship with successful studios anyway.

So are the rumors untrue and the instances being reported online of sabotage a fabrication? It’s possible, but perhaps not. AMC might not be doing this, but its employees are another matter.

Going back to the media’s reporting having the ultimate goal of getting people to act, no one acts out better than the left. If a few troublesome employees, or even a manager, are true believers in the left’s narrative that the right is just a bunch of evil conspiracy theorists who hate everyone who doesn’t look like a white male, then they would have no issue doing something untoward to stop the film from being seen.

They could simply flip a breaker or turn off a unit. It wouldn’t be hard to do.

They stop the film from being seen as much as they can and they get to feel like they’ve really done some good in the world by sticking it to those far-right evil people who…want to stop kids from being trafficked and sold into slavery.

It might not make much sense in the grand scheme but I’ve never credited the leftists with an abundance of intelligence. They’re operating off of feelings, not logic. The thing is, they can do this from time to time and the higher-ups at AMC won’t be any wiser. People can write it off as a coincidence and call the people who think it’s all a little too weird “conspiracy theorists” just like those Q-Anon folks.

I’m willing to believe AMC has nothing to do with these troubles, but even more willing to believe that AMC has employees that want to make trouble.