Film Review - Maria Full of Grace

Most of the people connected with the drugs industry are portrayed in movies as ruthless evil men - and of course that needs to be true; there is lots of money involved, and lots of risks taken. How refreshing then to see the more human face of the industry, individuals risking health and liberty to carry the drugs across the borders. Maria Full of Grace is such a movie; a realistic character study of people in poverty trying to make a better life for themselves.

We are introduced to 17 year-old Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) in her home town in Columbia, at work stripping thorns off roses in a factory. The work is tough, and her pay goes towards her household, where her sister has a baby, and her mum and grandma need to be sustained too. Frustrated by her situation, things get worse for Maria when she gets pregnant by her boyfriend; a local boy who pays her little attention, and is just after one thing. Maria refuses to marry him, and finishes the relationship.

At a party, she meets a young man from Bogota, who one day explains another way that she can make money quickly. She goes to the city, meets the local drug dealer, and signs up to be a mule. She is then asked to swallow in excess of 60 packages of heroin wrapped in rubber, any of which could kill her if they explode within her. As she embarks on her journey, she angrily finds that her friend Blanca (Yenny Paola Vega) has also signed up for the same thing, and is surprised when another woman who helped her in Bogota is also coming along. Banned from talking to each other, the three mules have to fly to New York, and wait in a hotel room until the packages 'reemerge'.

This passage of the film is thrilling; the sheer horror of what they are doing to their bodies, combined with the very real threat of beng caught, and the physical discomfort of carrying all the packages steers the film down a thriller route. What adds to the tension is the hand-held camerawork that gives it a 'fly on the wall' appearance. The way the girls exchange nervous glances throughout this section contributes further to the danger and loneliness they feel.

Director Joshua Marston has created a very real character study, portraying what drives people to indulge in this activity. He doesn't take a judgmental position, however; the reality of the situation is sufficiently shocking and terrifying. It's a great human study - Maria is no victim; she is a strong-willed woman who makes up her own mind.

Winner of the Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance - to say it's well acted is misleading in itself - it appears that the girls really are plucked from a Columbian neighbourhood, and look very natural, and terrified by what happens to them - this of course is the sure sign of a director and a set of actors who are very good at what they do, 7/10.