Maria Full of Grace

María Álvarez, a 17-year-old Colombian girl, who works at a flower plantation in sweat shop-like conditions (labor work) to help support her family. However, being forced to bring in the money for her unemployed sister (a single mother), discovered of her being pregnant, and being treated unfairly by her boss, she quits and decides to find another job, despite of her family’s disapproval. On her way to Bogotá to find a new job, she is offered a position as a mule — one who smuggles drugs by swallowing drug-filled pellets by one whom she met at a party. Desperate, she accepts the risky offer, befriends another mule named Lucy, discovers that her friend Blanca is also a fellow mule swallows 62 wrapped pellets of cocaine and flies to New York City. After a close call at the US Customs, as she was suspected of drug-trafficking, she is set free and sent to a hotel where she is to remove the pellets from her body. To retrieve the pellets from Lucy, who died when one of them ruptured inside of her, the traffickers cut open her stomach, then disposed of her body. After discovering this, Maria decides to escape the drug-trafficking cartel with Blanca, who left reluctantly. She and Blanca went off to meet Lucy’s sister and stayed there for a short period. Later on, her sister realizes that Maria was hiding the fact of Lucy’s absences and when she discovers the reason Lucy was discovered dead and was involved with drug-trafficking, she kicks Maria and Blanca out of the house in despair. After this and nowhere to stay, Maria and Blanca came back to the drug-trafficking dealers to hand over the drugs and received the money. Maria then gave half the money to Lucy’s sister to send back to Colombia and decides to come back. When she realizes she can have a new start in life In the United States, she calls Blanca, and leaves the airport.


In my opinion, I was wondering what the main theme of the movie is. Not to deal with drug-trafficking? You can get away with drug-trafficking? It is alright to take drugs despite of you being pregnant? But I did understand the reason why she was so desperate to deal that kind of life by doing something risky just to help her family. She was kind of just dealing with that kind of risky job just so she can earn the money. But it seems like she just doesn’t want to become like her sister, who is a single, unemployed mother and is depending on the money coming from her own younger sister. Maria Full of Grace does have its meaning in the movie despite it doesn’t exactly displays that fact.