Maria Full of Grace
Fine Line Features | Release Date: July 16, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
38
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Disturbing. It is impossible to sit through Maria Full of Grace and not be affected by the circumstances of the characters. For that, the credit must go to Marston and his actors. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Unfolds with a simplicity that's as breathtaking as its inevitability is harrowing. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Timely, pointed messages about oppression and opportunity come poignantly through in strongly dramatic terms. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
In its vitality and finesse, Maria Full of Grace is all of a piece -- and both artistically and spiritually itself full of grace. Read full review
100
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Sustains a documentary authenticity that is as astonishing as it is offhand. Even when you're on the edge of your seat, it never sacrifices a calm, clear-sighted humanity for the sake of melodrama or cheap moralizing. Read full review
100
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Marston would probably have made an interesting movie no matter how he had shot it, but the way he dramatized the material seems instinctively right: he goes detail by detail, emotion by emotion, eliding nothing, exaggerating nothing. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Moreno, with her wide, watchful eyes, owns the camera - and the film. Her performance is perfectly natural and profoundly moving. Maria Full of Grace is a remarkable picture, full of suspense and discovery. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A story that rips fleshy holes through your heart. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A revelatory independent film whose moments of incredible sadness are offset by the same state of grace that blesses its astonishing title character. Read full review
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Leah McLaren
A fantastic film. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianKaren Karbo
Astonishes on many levels. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The movie is thrillingly subjective, teeming with the fullness of everyday proletarian life that one finds in the work of the directors who most influenced Marston in the making of this movie: Hector Babenco and the Brazilian realists, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A remarkable -- and harrowing -- debut feature that makes you think there's hope after all for the future of independent films.
90
TimeRichard Schickel
What we come to care most about in writer-director Joshua Marston's film is how his heroine achieves the state promised by his title, Maria Full of Grace. Our emotional investment in her derives primarily from the astonishing performance of Moreno, 23. Read full review
90
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A gripping, deeply moving film Read full review
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The movie puts us in Maria's shoes, taking us step by suspenseful step through her physical and spiritual ordeal. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
This may be the first film to examine the intricacies of the Colombia-to-U.S. drug route in any detail. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Takes a simple story and molds it into something eloquent and menacing. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Gracefully acted, and the story packs a powerful punch straight to the gut. Read full review
88
New York PostMegan Lehmann
More than a ripped-from-the- headlines drug drama, Maria Full of Grace is like a horror movie made real. Read full review
88
PremierePeter Debruge
In his first feature, director Joshua Marston passes no judgments. He doesn't condemn drugs. He merely depicts the system that has arisen to support this illicit trade. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie has the freshness and urgency of life actually happening. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Has a power that doesn't announce itself until it's over: You leave not wanting to give up on life, just resentful of the world we live in. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The true heartbreak of Maria Full of Grace is that it never comes. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Marston doesn't develop the characters, except for the strong-willed and quick-witted Maria. Read full review
80
Film ThreatKJ 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. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
It's a remarkably assured and humane feature debut. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The depiction of her risky voyage and what happens afterward is highly suspenseful and entirely believable. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
The whole movie, of course, is a setting for its jewel, Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria: With her clear, round eyes, long dark hair, and radiant transparency, she brings to mind two of the loveliest ingénues of the last quarter-century -- Meg Tilly and Jennifer Connelly. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Accomplishes two great things on what was undoubtedly a minuscule budget. It breathes life into a small story that has larger ramifications. It also shows that America, as represented by Jackson Heights, is still the promised land for people about whom movies are rarely made. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Marston builds incredible tension. But it's the human drama etched on Moreno's young, weary face that gives Maria its potent punch. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Shot in the style of a documentary, which lends the movie an aura of utter realism, Maria Full of Grace derives an unsettling power from the clinical details of Maria's ordeal. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
The film's only misstep is its again-used theme (especially when it comes to a woman's rite of passage) of exacting some punishing loss when our heroine pushes to transcend her limitations by seeking a better life. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
Ultimately, the ending is a bit of a cop-out, but that's a small criticism for a film with such decent perspectives. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Grim but never gratuitous. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
Writer-director Joshua Marston's strikingly confident debut maintains an unblinking focus and sustains an almost unbearable level of tension. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Moreno's subtly calibrated mix of intelligence, naivete, rebelliousness, charisma and practicality produces an unforgettable protagonist; even Maria's recklessness seems reasonable because it's so clearly rooted in desperation. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
Be forewarned: Scenes of the protagonist learning to swallow the drug pellets will make many viewers queasy. Rarely has the power of suggestion been so unsettling. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
Not for anyone with a sensitive gag reflex. Joshua Marston provides a harrowing depiction of drug- muling for dummies. The raw, revolting, dangerous details of such an undertaking are graphic. Read full review
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