"Maria Full of Grace" is a touching, yet at times frightening, film that deserves a wider audience than those of the art house circuit. Unfortunately, it has always been the case that films wholly or partly subtitled miss out on mass market distribution. This is a shame. Many such films, including "Maria", are truly excellent and deserve broader accolades than they receive.

The story of "Maria" covers the life of Maria Alavarez (brilliantly played by Catalina Sandino Moreno) whose life revolves around providing for her mother, her sister and her sister's baby from the wages she earns dethorning roses in rural Colombia. She hates her work and her boss. Ultimately, she quits in frustration. Coinciding with this, she realises that she is pregnant to her boyfriend who is probably best described as a loser. Her life seems to have little upside.

Maria's solution is to work as a mule in order to carry heroin from Bogota to New York. It's a potentially lucrative trade. She swallows 62 capsules of the drug. Her journey is troubled as she escapes the authorities in New York simply because she is pregnant and therefore cannot be X-rayed. She also sees the brutal and unrelenting side of the trade when one of her fellow mules is killed to retrieve the cargo she is carrying in her system. Life in this business is cheap.

Without revealing the end, it can be said that the film is great. The characters are very plausible and the film seems to have no special axe to grind. See this film for the strength of its characters. Do not be persuaded otherwise simply because of the requirement to read subtitles.

MARIA FULL OF GRACE is an ironic film about drug trafficking among young Columbian women. Within the context of the film lies a buried depiction of the American Dream that only comes at the end of the film. It is definitely a five star quality independent film that covers unique angles from a basic and complex plotline. The film centers around a young woman wanting to break out of her conformist life where she works at a factory that makes flowers in order to help her mother support her sister and her sister's child, but she eventually becomes involved with the wrong side of the tracks. Maria becomes a pregnant teen who looks toward her so-called rebellious friends, who convince her to quit her mundane job at the factor and to deal drugs.

Upon Maria's arrival to New York to delivery the drugs, via her stomach, she meets up with her neighbor from Columbia, Lucy, who is also one of the scapegoats. Unfortunately, Lucy does not succeed in completing her mission, and is left to die in a hotel room. Maria happens to have Lucy's sister's address, and convinces her to bring her in despite the fact that she does not know about the trouble Lucy is in as well as Maria's dealings with drugs. In the end, Maria finds out that Lucy has been murdered. She completes her mission, but as she is about to leave to go back to Columbia, she changes her mind. She walks away from the airport counter heading back to New York City to begin a new life in the United States along with her unborn child.

MARIA FULL OF GRACE appears to be an incomplete film because the narrative runs succinctly. However, the film doesn't drag at all and will keep viewers interested in knowing what will happen in the next scene. There's no doubt that the film is covered with much cultural and religious overtones as well main premise of the film -- survival. Is it a coming of age film? Possibly, but from another perspective - a young woman attempting to live on her own terms and having much luck on her side. This is one film with controversial issues, and where there's a happy ending. Maria's experience could only happen in the movies.

It certainly is a very disturbing story as we watch 4 young Columbian women being used as "mules" to deliver cocaine to the US, but unfortunately this film made "mules" out the characters, failing to really develop any of them sufficently enough to carry this flimsy plot.

The movie starts out well enough, introducing us to Maria and giving us a glimpse of her life in the outskirts of Bogota, but the film breaks down once she and her compatriots board the plane to New Jersey. It was hard enough for me to imagine Maria getting through US customs with her weak story much less surviving this harrowing ordeal. The director all too obviously sets up each girl as a stereotype for what happens to young women caught in this predicament, and then loses all sight of what he is trying to say as Maria and her friend are left to fend for themselves in New York.

This was obviously a director who felt he had something terribly important to tell, but his inabilility to sufficiently resolve the plot is what brings this movie down. Too bad because one does develop empathy for Catalina Sandino Moreno, the actress who played Maria, as she managed to keep her head held high throughout this movie.

I really enjoyed this movie a lot. While it had none of the "slickness" that I am used to or normally go for in movies. It was also highly original and totally unpretentious.

This movie is about Maria a young woman of 17 years old who finds herself pregnant and tired of her dead end job in a flower factory in rural Columbia, decides to take a job as a "mule" ferrying drugs in her stomach from Columbia to the US, and the mishaps that happen there.

While she came from an impoverished rural background. The words "country bumpkin" never came to mind. Oh parts of her were ignorant...but she also had street smarts that most teenagers don't have. Her instincts for survival were extraordinary. It was amazing to watch her navigate herself around very tight situations would have paralyzed most other people with fear. She stands up for herself on several occasions but not obnoxiously so. What a refreshing change from the bratty teenagers that usually riddle movies. I thought she was a fine young woman and I completely admired her.


No one was played in stereotypes. I guess I (living up here in Canada) am used to seeing Hispanics played a certain way. Either as vicious criminals or poor people who are needed to be pitied. I am never treated or shown the pride that they have in themselves. From "Lucy" who is too ashamed to see her sister. To the drug dealer in Columbia who actually gives Maria enough money to settle her accounts, so that she won't be a liability. There were no one dimensional characters in the lot.

Of course I agree with everyone for saying that Catalina Moreno was terrific. She certainly deserved her Oscar nomination for best actress (should have won in my opinion).

This is a great movie and it is very uplifting and ended up on my top five favorite movies of 2004. I really hope to see more of Catalina Moreno down the road.

I spent the hundred or so minutes of this film's duration in a hypnotized but stressed-out state. Stress because I felt as if I was standing right there next to Maria Alvarez, the titular character.

This remarkable film does so many things well, it's hard to catalog them...but I'll try anyways.

First, the depiction of life in Colombia, and how simple/necessary it is to become involved in the drug trade, is effortlessly but exquisitely told. Our heroine has no other options...it's obvious.

Second, the details on, shall we say, "mule" training, were enough to make my wife and I both nearly gag in empathy.

Third, the suspense that builds during the initial travel to the U.S. is nerve-rattling.

Fourth, the entry into NY and the harrowing motel scenes, again, are brilliantly but plainly told. I didn't want to blink.

That's all fine and dandy, but the single unifying element that raises this film into the category of something "really special" is the performance of Catalina Sandino Moreno. Miss Moreno presents us with a fully formed, incredibly detailed and nuanced character; there's not a false note in her entire performance. She had me from the moment she appeared until the final fade-out.

Now having seen this movie, there is no question why she was nominated for Best Actress. It's that good.

In an age where sequels are made from the most embarrassing tripe, here is one of those rare films where I would do anything to see what happens after the credits roll.

I need to know that she's OK.

I'm from Colombia. I know Colombia. This film gets it right.

Bravo, Joshua Marston and bravo Miss Moreno. You've made a simple, eloquent film that puts most everything else from 2004 to shame.