The Reel Critic

Author: STEPHANIE DOSCH

Imagine you're a 17-year-old girl and you spend your days on a rose plantation dethorning flowers. Imagine this job pays almost nothing, and the conditions are terrible. You are surrounded by harsh chemicals, fed almost nothing and barely allowed to use the bathroom.

This is the life of Maria Alvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno) in "Maria Full of Grace." She becomes fed up with her job and so she quits. At the same time she realizes she's pregnant, but she and her boyfriend argue and break up. With her mother, sister and her sister's baby to support, Maria decides to look for work in Bogotá. An acquaintance, Franklin, agrees to take her, and on the way he tells her that if she's looking for work, she can always be a drug mule.

Frightened but intrigued and desperate for the money, Maria agrees to let Franklin take her to meet the drug lord, who explains the job to her. He tells her that once she decides to take on the task there is no going back, but she agrees anyway. She also meets another mule named Lucy, who has smuggled drugs twice before. Maria asks what the job is like and Lucy advises, "You just have to be prepared and know how to do it right." She takes Maria under her wing, explaining how it works and helping her prepare. She makes Maria practice swallowing large grapes whole so she will be able to swallow the 60-70 pellets of heroin the drug lords will require. Lucy reminds Maria to be sure the pellets are well-wrapped, because if just one opens inside her, she will die. Then she tells Maria about her sister who lives in New York City, and how she hasn't had the nerve to visit her when she's been on her trafficking trips. "What is America like?" Maria asks. Lucy sighs and answers: "Over there ... it's, like, too perfect. Everything's straight."

America turns out not to be as rosy as Lucy makes out, and from here on the movie is nerve-wracking. I found myself nervously clicking my pen as I watched Maria swallow 62 heroin pellets, then get on the plane bound for New York. Lucy is on the plane too, as well as Maria's friend Blanca, who Maria tried to convince not to become a mule. Be prepared to catch yourself biting your nails while the women are on the plane, passing through customs, and at the hotel afterwards. I don't want to say too much more about what happens in America - I don't want to spoil any surprises.

Catalina Sandino Moreno is excellent in her debut role as Maria. She is Maria - strong and fearful and confused and loving. She makes us understand that people have their own reasons for becoming mules, that they are not all just "bad people." She brings Maria to life and fills her with beauty, spirit and grace.

"Maria Full of Grace" is available on DVD and a great pick if you're bored at home over Spring Break.