Movie Review: Maria Full of Grace

Posted by Rachel on: 05.11.2007 /

“I can’t imagine bringing my child up in Columbia.
Not with the situation as it is.”
- Carla, Columbian immigrant to America and expectant mother

For our monthly movie group, two of my friends and I watched the Spanish language film Maria Full of Grace. It tells the story of Maria Alvarez, a young Columbian woman dealing with a crisis pregnancy and struggling to survive as the sole provider for her family. But everything changes when Maria accepts an offer to become a drug mule, smuggling heroin into the United States for the promise of big paycheck and a chance to travel. Her journey is marked by danger and tragedy but also by hope and the promise of rebirth.

In reflecting on this film, as well as the other two films our group has screened, Staci noted that POWER was a reoccurring theme in each. She commented that “powerlessness is a universal feeling of young girls” and that in Maria’s story that sense of powerlessness was intensified by her location. Staci asked, “What options did she have for control?” It seemed that the treacherous world of drug trafficking represented Maria’s only chance to change the course of her life.

Aubrie pointed out that Maria had the responsibility to provide for her family but had no decision-making power. Aubrie also observed that the men in the film seemed to have more options and more power and it was clear that money equaled power. Staci commented that Maria did not seem to know that she could say no to authority. Aubrie reflected on how the drug smuggling process was so compartmentalized, so that mules like Maria never saw the addicts or the consequences of heroin.

We all agreed that there were numerous parallels between the situation Maria found herself in and that of her namesake Mary the mother of Jesus. We felt that the pregnancy symbolized hope and deliverance. And ultimately, as Maria’s dangerous journey unfolded, it was her pregnancy that saved her. We all responded to the film with conflicted feelings - horror at the evils of the drug trade but also compassion for Maria’s plight and admiration for her courage and determination.