Review of Maria Full of Grace (2004)
Good for exploring taste. I like serious, representative and nuanced films about links in the chain of a systemic problem, and this tries to be that, but fails by a fairly narrow margin. Aside from the forced religious symbolism, there is too much pretty melodrama. I would have preferred if Yenny Paola Vega (Blanca) played Maria, to tone that down. This doesn’t have the guts to be 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), much less the talent to be It’s a Free World... (2007).