10 Globe-Trotting Movies About The Illegal Drugs Trade

9. Maria Full Of Grace

Just as the characters in Menace II Society find themselves at the whim of forces well beyond their control which lead them to a life dealing drugs, so too for Maria, the sweat shop worker living in Colombia, who finds herself becoming a drug mule for the cartels. Quitting her job then discovering she is pregnant, Maria (an award-winning performance from the radiant Catalina Sandino Moreno) takes the risk of trafficking drugs to New York after being propositioned by a drug dealer in the capital Bogota. After making it through customs, she soon realises that the danger is far from over, and that the cartel are more than happy to remove their product from inside their mules by any means necessary. Maria Full of Grace is a naturalistic portrayal of drug smuggling which doesn't seek to sensationalize nor exaggerate for dramatic effect. The slow burning moments of seeming mundanity merge with a quietly building tension which reflects the realities of the experiences encountered by drug mules - there are literally thousands more like Maria crossing borders every day of the year.