The Epic Pictures drama "Trafficked," which opens in New York on October 6 2017 and Los Angeles a week later ahead of a wider rollout, is a movie about the illegal sex trade by the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject. Harvard professor Siddharth Kara bases his screenplay on characters from his book "Sex Trafficking."
The accolades this time come from outside film festivals. Organizations that endorse the film include the United Nations and the CNN Freedom Project.
The statement by Kara for the "Trafficked" press materials discusses both his extensive 16-year first-hand investigation and his goal of creating "the first truly authentic, global portrayal of the unconscionable business of sex trafficking." He adds that "the characters represent composites of the numerous victims I have spoken with, reflecting the main ways sex trafficking occurs in the world."
The following YouTube clip of the trailer for "Trafficked" provides a good sense of the vision that Kara seeks to convey.
The opening scenes introduce us to the aforementioned composites, who represent the aforementioned variety. Sara is a typical blonde California girl who is abducted soon after being forced out of the foster care system based on turning 18. Her story largely begins with her ending up a ward of the state after her mother (Elizabeth Rohm of "Law & Order") is the victim of brutal domestic violence. Ashley Judd plays social worker Diane, who has the post-foster care future of Sara worked out.
Well-off Indian woman Mali also is 18; she is enjoying an evening out with a female classmate ahead of the pair traveling from India to study in the United States.
Amba is from Nigeria and is a more willing participant in this dirty business; she regularly repeats her cynical philosophy that spending a few minutes under a man is preferable to several hours in a hot field.
Each girl ends up in a Texas brothel that corrupt government official Christian (Patrick Duffy) owns and that Simon (Sean Patrick Flanery) operates with an iron fist. Ancillary activities include drug dealing and illegal trafficking in organs. One especially horrific scenes centers around the manner in which sex slaves who no longer are good for that purpose are harvested for spare parts.
A dispute with a supplier vividly illustrates the brutality of everyone involved in the business.
The false hope that every girl receives is being told that her involuntary servitude ends once she services 500 men. Sharing that creative accounting, a desire to maximize the return in the investment in the girls, and concern regarding reports to law enforcement officials prevents obtaining freedom even after reaching the stated milestone.
Anyone who has seen the exploitive depictions of the topic that Kara presents know that the girls get drugs forced on them, are subjected to humiliating line-up inspections by brothel clients, experience rape and unwanted pregnancies (that always end in abortions), and quickly realize that resistance is futile regarding all that.
Genuine hope comes in the form of Sara developing a proverbial daring escape plan; all three girls make a bid for freedom, but this not being a typical Hollywood movie creates the possibility of many variations of unhappy endings.
Seeing all this puts faces on the media reports regarding this activity; it further shows where it fits in the grander scheme of criminal activity. The literal final message puts the massive annual profits from this industry in perspective.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Traffciked" is encouraged to email me; you also can connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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