Do not allow the sorrow of grieving to interfere with the power of hatred and revenge. This message, delivered by a family matriarch (Marieta Severo), is clearly understood by the three sisters who are the title characters in THE THREE MARIAS. The sisters are called home when their father and two brothers are brutally murdered in separate slayings, all ordered by a man from their mother's past. The grieving widow and mother responds to the killings by commanding her daughters to act. She assigns each daughter a hitman in order to avenge the deaths. Various complications keep these mercenaries from carrying out their tasks and the sisters must take it upon themselves to finish the job, as each of the Marias targets one of the three killers.

The eye-for-an-eye mentality of this Brazilian thriller is just one of many themes drawn from the Bible. Gothic imagery and quotes from the scriptures also harken back to biblical roots while the remote Brazilian locations add a grim, melodramatic quality to the film.