Maria Full of Grace is a Latin film that depicts a way life that many of us have been sheltered from knowing exists.  Exploring Latin culture in film in depth provides its viewers an understanding of a different way of life.  Regardless of the viewer, this movie is a brilliant expression of the battles that consumes people and a way to educate its viewers on the realism of everyday life in Columbia.  

The story evolves around a seventeen-year old girl, María Álvarez.  Even though there are many characters that are essential to this movie, the story unfolds through the eyes of María.  In the beginning, it looks like María could be living in an environment that would be familiar to many in the United State.  There is a Lunch room setting with an attractive boy a few tables over flirting, and the girls laughing about it.  There is a club with music and dancing, when the boy finally interacts with the girl and everyone appears to be having fun.  But that picture or assumption quickly dies as the story unfolds.  The beauty of childhood or what is perceived as a normal seventeen-year olds girl’s life it destroyed within the first twenty minutes of this movie.   María is not finishing school and contemplating college, she is working in a flower shop removing thorns from roses with a controlling boss in a sweatshop environment.  She handed her paycheck over to her family with disregard to her own personal needs.  She is involved with a boy, Juan, who seems disinterested in when he is hanging out with his friends.   Maria is not happy, and all of these things are building up for her.   The monotony of everyday life and an individual’s inability to make end meet or get ahead is what makes these alternative get rich quick endeavors so appealing.

As this movie continues, the bad seems to get worse.  María’s family is dependent on her wages as a form of survival.  When María finds out she is pregnant, she decides she wants a better life for her unborn child.  She is fed up with how her boss treats her so she quits, and faces the guilt from her family.  The father, Juan, at first denies the baby, and then asks to her to marry him.  María declines because she knows she does not love him, nor does he love her it is simply out of obligation.  These factors just add to the transformation in the movie when María goes from hard worker to drug mule.  When she is presented with the opportunity earn 5,000 US dollars, the risks are not seen as being relevant.  There is a bit of hypocrisy by the character of María.  She wants a better life for her baby, but is willing to risk its life as a drug transporter.  There is also a big risk with the job itself.

This journey is about three girls, Lucy, who has done this twice before.  María was the one who appears brave and stable and Blanca, who seems to follow María in whatever she does.  All three had their reason for this journey, their family, and their battles along the way.   This movie shows the struggle for individuals who have very little options and even fewer resources.  The drug lords preyed on individuals like this, who they knew would risk their lives for, what is seen to them, as minimal investment.  The decisions that are made by these girls are not only dangerous they can be deadly.  In the end, María appeared to have gotten her happy ending, however the journey to get there was inevitably not worth the risk.  This story transformation evolves as different events transpire.  The moral journey seems to be the most notable.  The choices made along the way.  The happily every after ending is not one that most would imagine, but for a girl from Columbia, it was portrayed as the best outcome for her and her baby.

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