100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Timely, pointed messages about oppression and opportunity come poignantly through in strongly dramatic terms.
Maria Full of Grace (María, llena eres de gracia)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Colombia,
- Ecuador,
- United States
- 2004
- · 101m
Director
Joshua Marston
Cast
Catalina Sandino Moreno,
Guilied Lopez,
Yenny Paola Vega,
John Álex Toro,
Virgina Ariza,
Rodrigo Sánchez Borhorquez
Genre
Crime,
Drama,
Thriller
Stuck in a low-paying job with an unexpected pregnancy, seventeen-year-old Maria decides to work as a drug mule to make some much-needed money. All she has to do is carry the drugs from Bogotá to New York City. When things start to spiral, will she find a way out?
Stream Maria Full of Grace
What are critics saying?
100
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Unfolds with a simplicity that's as breathtaking as its inevitability is harrowing.
100
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Disturbing. It is impossible to sit through Maria Full of Grace and not be affected by the circumstances of the characters. For that, the credit must go to Marston and his actors.
100
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
In its vitality and finesse, Maria Full of Grace is all of a piece -- and both artistically and spiritually itself full of grace.
100
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Sustains a documentary authenticity that is as astonishing as it is offhand. Even when you're on the edge of your seat, it never sacrifices a calm, clear-sighted humanity for the sake of melodrama or cheap moralizing.
100
The New Yorker by David Denby
Marston would probably have made an interesting movie no matter how he had shot it, but the way he dramatized the material seems instinctively right: he goes detail by detail, emotion by emotion, eliding nothing, exaggerating nothing.
100
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
Moreno, with her wide, watchful eyes, owns the camera - and the film. Her performance is perfectly natural and profoundly moving. Maria Full of Grace is a remarkable picture, full of suspense and discovery.
100
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
A story that rips fleshy holes through your heart.
100
San Francisco Chronicle by Ruthe Stein
A revelatory independent film whose moments of incredible sadness are offset by the same state of grace that blesses its astonishing title character.
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Leah McLaren
A fantastic film.
90
L.A. Weekly by Ella Taylor
The movie is thrillingly subjective, teeming with the fullness of everyday proletarian life that one finds in the work of the directors who most influenced Marston in the making of this movie: Hector Babenco and the Brazilian realists, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh.
88
USA Today by Claudia Puig
Gracefully acted, and the story packs a powerful punch straight to the gut.
80
Film Threat
Isn’t really about drugs. It’s about what motivates people to make hard choices. However, deciding whether or not to view this unique glimpse into a seldom seen world should be easy. It’s a must-see.
80
Village Voice by Mark Holcomb
It's a remarkably assured and humane feature debut.
70
Variety by David Rooney
Writer-director Joshua Marston's strikingly confident debut maintains an unblinking focus and sustains an almost unbearable level of tension.
70
The A.V. Club by Nathan Rabin
Grim but never gratuitous.
70
The Hollywood Reporter
Ultimately, the ending is a bit of a cop-out, but that's a small criticism for a film with such decent perspectives.
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