User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 70 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 70
  2. Negative: 4 out of 70

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  1. Jun 30, 2013
    One the best films from Colombia, together with "Our Lady of the Assassins" or "The Little Roses Girl". Great début for Catalina Sandino. It's truth all about tragic destiny to these South American girls. Great film!
  2. Ryan
    Feb 20, 2007
    Great, captivating.
  3. JeffM.
    Aug 14, 2006
    Not a "thriller" in the traditinoal genre sense, yet Maria's journey had me on the edge of my seat throughout.
  4. Matt
    Feb 13, 2006
    sorry, but I didn't think it was very good. Acting was great, but the film was... boring? Everyone is saying this movie was shocking and disturbing, but it wasn't. Raw? sure. But in this case, raw means boring. Maybe I am too desensitized by similar fare such as Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting. Compared to those two movies, this movie falls quite flat. Sorry, but I just didn't think it was very good Expand
  5. markg.
    Jan 10, 2006
    Brilliant on every level.
  6. ClaudiaT.
    Oct 31, 2005
    One of the best movies I've ever seen.
  7. carmend.
    Oct 13, 2005
    This was one of the best movies I ever sw in all my life it's great.
  8. angelim.
    Mar 14, 2005
    It was great!
  9. kenc.
    Mar 7, 2005
    Be sure to watch it a second time with the Director's Commentary. One of the very best I've ever heard.
  10. JayM.
    Feb 27, 2005
    Excellent acting. Moving.
  11. CayitaV.
    Feb 23, 2005
    This movie was excelent because shows the real problem that our country is having for many tears.
  12. NickT.
    Feb 5, 2005
    The best movie I have seen in a very long time. I found it amazing how it was solely the dialogue and the situation that it was occuring in was what moved me the most. Every single facet of this movie deserves all the praise it recieves. Many movies attempt to capture realism, and fail, but Maria Full of Grace is able to do it effortlessly without imbellishing any kind of circumstance or character. I was very pleased with this movie and reccommend it highly. Expand
  13. AlejandroD.
    Jan 30, 2005
    I had high hopes for this film. I am Colombian, and thought this would somehow show the problematic of the "mules." However I was disapointed. I think the movie is very vague, and there are a lot of things that are left unexplained. The movie is just about the need of some people of my country, and shows how far some of them would go. But the whole drugs problem is not as simple and soft like this. Things are far worse than what we see on this movie, and Maria is somehow justified for what she did. Most of the "mules" are tricked, and most of the time, they are sent with the intent to make them get caught, so that the others that are already established can pass more easily. Also I wanted to see more how the same goverments and police from both countries are part of this issue. The only good thing about this movie is the actors,, which make a great job, but the movie lack a lot of content. Expand
  14. KevinE.
    Jan 24, 2005
    I'll second what most of the '8's have said, but deduct for being a little bit bored with the pacing ; it was so very even that I felt I had seen it while mildy drugged. Maybe this was intentional, connecting us to the same sense of confusion and ennui that Maria is feeling. It was honest, unpretentious, and absorbing, but I think some of the priase I've read, such as 'astonishing', and 'breathtaking' are a bit over the top. If it doesn't follow a slick Hollywood formula it isn't necessarily the ground-breaking film we've waited a lifetime for either (I call this the 'Sideways' syndrome). In the end I felt that I had traveled to another place for 101 minutes - that's always nice. Expand
  15. ArmandoS.
    Jan 15, 2005
    Excellent acting by lead actress-someone to watch in the future-compassionate movie.
  16. MattM.
    Jan 9, 2005
    Simply stunning ~ the cinema coming out of the lower Americas is packing more of an emotional punch that anything Hollywood can cook up.
  17. RicardoG.
    Jan 6, 2005
    I was extremely impressed with this film. Very well done, the acting was superb, and the story is top notch. Probably one of the best films I've seen in a while.
  18. AugustoS
    Dec 23, 2004
    Very authentic and moving story, about a young Colombian girl that decides to become a mule. Being that I'm from a place very close to Colombia, I was very pleased at the autheticity of the movie. Colombians are Colombians, with their accents and figures of speech, this might seem like a minor point, but a lot of movies tend to blend accents in the wrong way. The actress who plays "Maria" does an excellent job, and the scene at the airport is a great example of creating tension in a movie in a quiet way. The only complaint I would have about the movie is the title. It's a bit misleading since the religious tones are barely touched at all. The title just seems to have been chosen because it sounds pretty good, but that's almost about it. Great movie, highly recommended. Expand
  19. JavierA
    Dec 8, 2004
    In what should be an Oscar-nominated turn, Catalina Sandino Moreno gives a heart-breakingly powerful performance as a Colombian mule. The film is disturbing, yes, brimming with drama and the horror of Maria's plight. It also makes a pointed statement about drugs and their inherent effect on poverty. "Maria Full of Grace" is easily the best Latin American film of 2004, and an outstanding example of "reality cinema". Expand
  20. ErnestA.
    Oct 11, 2004
    This movie was as real as it gets. The negative forces is what drives this movie, but Catalina Sandino Moreno put on an academy award performance. She is riveting in her portral of Maria. I saw this movie on a Friday night and it is still with me on Monday morning. If you haven't seen this movie, please, please go see it. The screenwriting was excellent. This deserves to win more than one award. Expand
  21. NataliaS.
    Oct 9, 2004
    GREAT MOVIE. It is not about hollywood with its special effects, it is about the colombian situation face to face, no lies, no imaginary stories, people with no money that would do anything for a better future. Victims....
  22. DavidG.
    Sep 29, 2004
    A good movie, but not a masterpiece! It certainly doesn't warrant so many ratings in the 8-10 out of 10 range. A simple and dramatic story, good portrayal of a teenager balancing a need to escape and climb to a better life, with a need to make a series of unethical choices in order to do this. References to Roman Catholicism can be found in the background, but these religious allusions were only shallowly developed. The fact that abortion was never contemplated (while organized cocaine smuggling was) may also reflect a catholic influence. Yet the story is satisfying and the movie is definitely worth seeing. Expand
  23. ChadS.
    Sep 12, 2004
    It was such a wrong thought to have, but when Lucy (Giulied Lopez) prepared Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) for drug muling by swallowing grapes, it reminded me of the cafeteria scene with Phoebe Cates and Jennifer Jason-Leigh in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". However, if Maria was desperate enough to smuggle drugs, she likewise might've gone into prostitution, but as it happened, a drug dealer got to her before the pimp. So maybe it's wasn't an overactive imagination that led me to see the Amy Heckerling film being faintly referred to. "Maria Full of Grace" isn't billed as a thriller, but name me a film with a more suspenseful sequence than Maria's plane trip and interrogation at the airport. If she settles down in America, Maria will surely be "Somebody's Baby", because, as remarked earlier in the film by the man who recruits her; she's too pretty to be a housecleaner, and it goes without saying, that Maria is too pretty to be "Somebody's Mule". Expand
  24. BarryR.
    Sep 7, 2004
    "Maria Full of Grace" is a beautifully written and directed film from Joshua Marston. Filmed in Colombia and the United States, the acting by Catalina Sandira Moreno is more than good, it is outstanding. This is a young actress who dominates the screen by the simple movement of her eyes, her hair, her every nuance and is able to communicates a depth of feeling most actors twice her age could not. This is a film that gives great insight into the lives of those who emigrate to this country and helps you to understand why they are willing to be separated from their families in other lands, not just for a better economic way of life, but for a better life in general. A film you will remember for a long, long time and a truly wonderful theatrical experience, I join so many others who found this moving to be a really high cut above the rest. It earns and deserves 3 and ½ stars. Do your good taste a favor and see it. Expand
  25. PeterK.
    Sep 4, 2004
    An absolutely mesmerizing ride of human tribulation. Moreno's eyes, carrying more expression than perhaps any other actress working today, carry an attached grief, never ceasing to amaze the audience or allowing maria to totally enthrall them. For her subtlety, and her utterly potent expression, this is the finest performance I have witnessed by an actress this year. For her truth to character and the heart that the audience so clearly could recognize that lies in the story and Maria herself, this is one of the finest films I have seen in a long time. Expand
  26. RodR
    Aug 22, 2004
    I fail to see where all of the high praise for this movie comes from. This movie is not about the desperate acts of a struggling young woman living in an oppressive, hopeless situation whose only chance at freedom is to smuggle drugs. Rather, the main character is just a typical whining, self-absorbed teenager who undertakes a drastically unnecessary and melodramatic mission to free herself the "hardships" of teenage boys, a job that sucks, and a loving family that doesn't always put her needs first. I kept expecting her to throw a temper tantrum, stamp her feet, and scream "No one understands me! My life is so horrible! It's so UNFAIR!" At one point, she actually storms into her room (yes, she has her own room!) and slams the door. The only desperate situations that the characters find themselves are manufactured by their own bad decisions. It's extremely disappointing, because the story that the movie was TRYING to tell (the story of good people all but forced into a horrible situation) is a real drama that happens every day. This movie insults those people. Expand
  27. MarcK.
    Aug 18, 2004
    Not exactly the "feel good" movie of the year, but definitely worth seeing. Strong acting performances by most. And like "Dirty Pretty Things", it's a plot dealing with the underbelly of our society that most of us never see.
  28. VictorM
    Aug 18, 2004
    Very authentic and moving. It is a very realistic movie with a very remarkable role for Maria. She's great.
  29. Mark
    Aug 13, 2004
    Elegant, no corny dramatic hype or gratuitous violence, very very realistic, human, suspenseful and moving. A must see.
  30. JoeS.
    Aug 4, 2004
    Superb! Moreno, as Maria, is a true star, and this movie is thrilling from the very beginning to the end. Harrowing throuighout, but ultimately uplifting, this is the best movie of the year.
  31. StephenS.
    Aug 3, 2004
    This is a well made movie for sure, with a lot of excellent work in it. But ultimately, I have to ask, for what? While I'm gald to see a movie that isn't trying to be mindless entertainment, if it is not going to be entertaining, then I want a movie to be meaningful. Unless you were considering a career as a drug mule or wondered why more people don't do it, I don't think this movie has much to say. I didn't come away feeling like I'd been on a journey worth the effort. Expand
  32. BrianY.
    Aug 1, 2004
    Haunting, wholly involving, remarkably draws you in and never lets go.
  33. LoreleiQ.
    Jul 30, 2004
    Catalina Sandino Moreno is full of grace. The plot is predictable, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - it's also wholly believeable. Thank goodness the director had the sense to step out of the way and let his actors do the work. If you're highly opinionated on the U.S.'s "war on drugs," you need to see this movie - whatever your stance.
  34. AnnaL.
    Jul 29, 2004
  35. LucyT.
    Jul 18, 2004
    The story keeps you up! the intensity never made anyone wink. yet heartwheming and sentitive.

Universal acclaim - based on 39 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 39
  2. Negative: 0 out of 39
  1. Takes a simple story and molds it into something eloquent and menacing.
  2. Reviewed by: KJ Doughton
    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.
  3. Reviewed by: Duane Byrge
    Ultimately, the ending is a bit of a cop-out, but that's a small criticism for a film with such decent perspectives.