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Maria Full of Grace

Writer/director Joshua Marston and Oscar nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno both make impressive feature film debuts with Maria Full of Grace. Marston, a former journalist, stops short of cinéma vérité while adding an almost Bergman-esque feel to the film—though not quite as bleak as Bergman could get, because the ultimate goal is to show the strength young Maria garners by overcoming adversity. The key to that grave transformation is Catalina Sandino Moreno, whose debut performance provides every bit of the eponymous grace in the film's title.

- April 2, 2005

DVD Extras

Practically nothing, just some trailers and an audio commentary track by writer/director Joshua Marston.

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Maria Full of Grace (2004)

A young woman agrees to serve as a drug mule in a desperate attempt to escape life in her impoverished Colombian town, but her "business trip" to New York doesn't go as smoothly as promised.


Written and Directed by Joshua Marston


Starring Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yenny Paolo Vega, Guilied Lopez, Patricia Rae

101 minutes
Rated R (drug content, language, adult situations)

Movie: B+
Extras: D