Maria Full of Grace (2004)

Once in a while, I tell Netflix I'm not interested in a suggestion but later rent it anyway. In this case, I must have been turned off by the serious subject matter and then mustered the courage, partly because it got an Academy nomination for Best Actress (pretty rare for foreign-language fare) and an AFI Movie of the Year award. And I've enjoyed an unusually large number from 2004.

In a Colombian town, pregnant 17-year-old Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) quits her job at a florist sweatshop. Since there's not much else she can do for her family's much-needed funds, she agrees to traffic heroin to the outskirts of New York City, telling her family it's Bogotá office work. She is not pleased to learn that her friend Blanca (Yenny Paola Vega) is coming for the same reason, along with two other "mules," but she'll have much bigger reasons not to be pleased before this is over.

Near as I can tell, this depiction of the underground is highly accurate, even if the Colombia scenes were shot in Ecuador. Maria's contacts vary in civility and generosity; for the most part, I'm actually impressed. Of course, when the business is lucrative, you do what you can to keep 'em coming. And these mules clearly aren't in it for long-term health benefits. The danger and discomfort are worse than I thought, and it hadn't occurred to me that there would be veiled threats to loved ones in case the mules don't want to play ball.

It gets more sobering when we realize how lucky Maria is. She learns several ways her trip could have gone far more catastrophic, and getting arrested is the least of them. She can't speak English to any useful degree. She doesn't even pay a price for doing this while pregnant; if anything, her condition saves her. But there's no guarantee she'll never take such risks again, let alone that she'll be so lucky next time.

I don't want to be hard on Maria for making so many mistakes, because she's young and always rather short on promising options. It's interesting when she gets into an argument with someone (which happens often), because every time, both sides have a point. To me, it all adds up to a very credible story.

Furthermore, as simple as the plot sounds, it never feels empty. It keeps the right clip throughout the 101 minutes, neither hasty nor trying our patience. Not that we're ever fully rid of angst, given the stakes.

I don't read a message into MFoG other than "Pity those in this position." And I do, now more than ever. It takes a great film like this to affect me that way without ruining my mood for the evening.