The Lonely Planet tourist guidebook suggests bringing food and sundries to inmates at the women’s prison in Quito, Ecuador. Some of the women there were mules, carrying illegal drugs in their luggage (pack), under their clothes (strap), or in their stomachs (swallow). The film boldly enters the world of the prison and finds young American and European women willing to tell about drug smuggling, getting caught and surviving years behind bars. The film’s raw immediacy pulls the audience in, combining character portraits with the verité madness of real-life Midnight Express.  NK