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Maria Full of Grace
(2004)THE HISTORY This film looks at the plight of drug mules, women from South America who risk their lives to escape poverty by agreeing to smuggle drugs to the U.S. in their stomachs. Pregnant Colombian teen Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is a typical mule, swallowing dozens of large, greased, watertight pellets before boarding a flight to JFK.
THE STRUGGLE The film is unsparing in looking at the gauntlet of risks these women willingly undergo, including the potentially lethal rupture of the pellets, arrest by wary customs officers, and the cruel indifference of their drug contacts in America. In the case of women like Maria, who ultimately chooses to stay illegally, there's also the difficulty of finding jobs and housing, though she does find a community of fellow Colombian expatriates who are willing to help her assimilate.
WHY YOU'LL WATCH IT The charismatic, Oscar-nominated Moreno, whose sympathetic portrayal of the resolute Maria is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
