Why are girls being sexually assaulted?

After we shot our first documentary film, Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, exposing global human trafficking, we were haunted by the images of women and children for sale in places all around the world—and the men lining up to purchase them.

That experience prompted the question,

“What kind of society is producing so many men willing to buy a woman or child for sex?”

We knew our next step would be investigating the cultural forces fueling a toxic sexuality.

In America, young adult attitudes regarding sex are on full display during college spring break, an epicenter of the casual sex phenomenon. It has become representative of what’s now considered acceptable among many young adults.

In 2015, Panama City Beach, Florida made headlines when a woman was gang-raped in broad daylight on the beach by spring breakers while onlookers did nothing.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen said,

“This is happening in broad daylight with hundreds of people seeing and hearing what is happening, and they are more concerned about spilling their beer than somebody being raped.”

We felt compelled to tell the story of young adult hookup culture and its ties to sexual assault.

Our film Liberated: The New Sexual Revolution follows the journey of college students during their spring break revelries, offering an insightful look into their attitudes and behaviors regarding sex, the expectation of women to conform to an idealized sexual image, and the normalization of sexual violation.

Viewers of all kinds have praised the film for its honest, yet empathetic critique of a subculture that’s creating a dangerous environment for young adults everywhere.

One male college partyer described how the film impacted him:

“Was on Netflix with my buddies tonight and typed in ‘spring break’ thinking we would find some funny raunchy spring break movie to watch. Ended up clicking play on your movie and had half of us guys in tears at the end of it… convicted of things we’ve done and this sickening culture we have encouraged… Breaks my heart to really hear and understand what these girls our age go through. I will be sharing your documentary with whoever I can. Thanks so much I can honestly say this changed my outlook on life.” —Zach S.

You can watch Liberated on Netflix today.

Watch Now

(*Trigger Warning: This film contains profanity and raw depictions of hookup culture and sexual assault.)

On February 24, we’ll be releasing a kind of sequel to Liberated, called Liberated: After Spring Break. This four-part series follows Kimmy and Shay, the main subjects from the original film, as they reflect on the toxicity of hookup culture and share their stories with college students across the US and the UK.

The series will release on our Magic Lantern Pictures YouTube channel, so subscribe to our channel to stay in the loop!

Together for freedom,

The Exodus Cry Team

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