This film follows the drug trade from the human mules point of view. Dealers in places like Colombia pay girls to ingest drugs packaged in latex gloves and smuggle them into the U.S. The drug dealers pay more money than these girls could make in a lifetime. Plus, they get free trips to the U.S. The sales pitch seems so wonderful, but the risks and complications are extremely dangerous.
This film follows how a 17-year-old girl named Maria Alvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno, first screen performance) becomes a drug smuggler. Maria works as a de-thorner at a flower plantation to help support her family. She resents this greatly because the job is terrible, her boss is uncaring and her older sister Diana (Johanna Andrea Mora, screen debut) has had a baby and doesn’t have to work. Maria has a boyfriend named Juan (Wilson Guerrero, screen debut), who is anything but a great boyfriend.
As circumstances continue to pile up, Maria hooks up with a drug dealer through a new friend named Franklin (John Alex Toro, BOGATA 2016). Maria meets another mule named Lucy (Guilied Lopez, screen debut), who shows Maria the ropes – how to swallow the huge drug pellets, what to expect from the dealers, etc. Lucy has been wanting to visit her sister Carla (Patricia Rae, SWIMFAN) in New York, but hasn’t had the guts to show up and explain how she got there. Accompanying, Maria and Lucy on the trip is Lucy’s naïve friend Blanca (Yenny Paola Vega, film debut).
The performances are impressive from the young cast. Moreno is getting Oscar buzz for her work and she deserves it. Her charming performance gives the human touch that helps make the film feel rooted in real life. Lopez and Vega are like the yin and yang of the emotional pull of the film. Lopez provides mature stability, while Vega provides tension at every turn with her immature responses to the dangers she encounters.
The film details the great risks these girls take and shows the various ways things can go wrong, especially when one of the pellets breaks inside the girls. These young girls don’t have much and truly risk everything for something better. The story is harrowing and powerful. An impressive feat for first time filmmaker Joshua Marston. You just have to wince every time the girls step deeper and deeper into trouble. This is a solid well-crafted drama that will make you think a little different the next time you buy roses.
Buy "Maria Full of Grace" on DVD Here!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
