Member review

A brave and heart wrenching exploration, into the cold and ruthless world of drug trading. The film follows the journey of a 17 year old Maria Alvez in a no holds barred, thought provoking Spanish drama. In a striking debut, playing the title character; Catalina Sandino Moreno almost carries the movie single handily, ejecting warmth and strength, into a world that treats human life with such disregard. Maria full of grace is a coming of age story, in every sense of the word. In our life’s most of us are comfortably eased to adulthood, but Maria on the other hand, is thrust head first into the dark side of the human condition. With the unenviable task of having to deal with extreme, adult issues such as drugs, death and teen pregnancy. As she bids to escape the poor surroundings of Bogotá, Columbia, but she is tired down to a dead-end job in a flower plantation, with a boss who doesn't respect her, leaving her intent on quitting. But unfortunately, being the sole bread winner of her family, and with her sister’s baby in the need of raising and being taken care of, everything is not well. But out of the blue, she is then offered a chance to not only travel, but to make some serious money for her family. At first it seems like a good package, but having to smuggle drugs into the US as a drug mule in exchange, things soon become dangerous. With Performances so true and camera angles so naturalistic, the film is given an almost, raw documentary feel by director Joshua Marston, as we are almost placed into the skin of Maria, experiencing events as she would, and feeling the same whirlwind of emotions that she is forced to deal with. It always stuns and bewilders me to hear anytime a person says they won’t watch a foreign film with subtitles, as they can’t be bothered to read them or they associate lack of quality with any film not made in America, this of course is crazy, as I believe that many foreign films, have so much to offer and personally I love them all. This is a diamond in the rough; induction into a master-class of film-making with heart, Maria full of grace is a film I highly recommend.