The subject of the film was probably very actual at the time it came out (it probably still is, but no longer to the media). We follow Maria from the title, a young woman not having a too easy life in Colombia. When she looses her hard job at a flower growing company, she soon finds another: drug trafficking.
In Dutch we have a word for these people: “bolletjesslikker”. It literally means “globules swallower” and that is exactly what they do. (In English these people are referred to as “drug mules”.) Maria first practices with grapes and when the day comes, she gets 23 globules with cocaine to swallow before she is put on a plane to New York.
“Maria Full Of Grace” shows how people come to get into the trade, what the travel is like and what type of world they generally start to move in. It is a drama with a few thriller elements. A descent film, but not one that you would need to put up high on your list if you ask me.
