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MARIA FULL OF GRACE Send This Review to a Friend
The plight of young women growing up in Colombia and hoping for something more than the life they are stuck in is dramatized poignantly in “Maria Full of Grace,” a beautifully made but tough movie that rips at the heart. The protagonist is Maria Alvarez, a 17-year-old, played with utter realism by Catalina Sandino Moreno. She sees her way out by becoming a drug mule.
The detailed process involving the need to swallow large quantities of drug-filled packets and secretly bring them into the United States is at the core of this film, directed by Joshua Marston, making his feature debut. Once in the States, the mule is helplessly in the hands of the drug traffickers and must excrete the substances as the handlers wait menacingly. The risks are great, either from getting caught or from leakage, which can produce fatalities. The drug dealers are also perfectly willing to kill a mule or members of one’s family when considered necessary to the operation.
It is into this world that Maria willingly stumbles. What happens to her and others unfolds tensely in the somber tale, also written by Marston. Moreno’s performance is exquisite, and she has been honored for it with a best actress award at the Berlin Film Festival. The film also comes with the credential of having won the Dramatic Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
The excellent cast includes Yenny Paola Vega, Guilied López, Jhon Alex Toro and Patricia Rae. “Maria Full Of Grace” is an upsetting film, but the artistic rewards are great.
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