she did not learn from her mistake.
What was her mistake? Murdering the cop, right? Does she come close to killing an innocent throughout the rest of the movie (disregarding the entire first act, which details her being broken and rebuilt by the secret organization)? No, she does not. This is proof that she
did learn from her mistake.
Moreover, she develops to the point where she doesn't want to kill
anyone ever again, innocent or corrupt (the obvious exception would be
justfied personal killing, like if a dude is intent on raping/murdering her or a loved one, etc.).
What was the root cause of her murder? Her extreme drug addiction, right? The rest of the movie shows that she repents of this as well.
People have the wrong idea about repentance if they think that it's all about boo-hooing over a bad deed. What good is this if the person continues with the negative behavior? It wouldn't be
genuine repentance, although it may indicate bondage/addiction to the behavior.
True repentance means to change for the positive by making a 180 from the negative behavior in question. This is what Maggie does in the story.
she never showed any remorse or moral anguish over killing the cop.
It's a good point, but the filmmakers opted to take the subtle route with this. It's possible that a scene was written and maybe even shot that depicted something to this effect, but they cut it for one reason or another. More likely, they wanted to show her repentance as a gradual enlightenment and change as she performs her "penance" killing people for the government. This is clear in the bathroom scene at the Mardi Gras where she can barely pull the trigger and, after she does, she weeps at her living damnation. P.J. enters the room and instinctively knows something horrible had happened, even if it was just Maggie experiencing ghosts of the past; actually it was
both -- she just killed someone she didn't know from Adam and she's grieving over her past misdeeds that brought her to this living hell.
This scene reveals that Maggie has finally developed a conscience, meaning she has grown
spiritually. It's after this occasion that she actively seeks an escape from her damnation, which -- again -- illustrates her genuine repentance.
That said, I agree that she was a pathetic, drug-addled loser at the beginning of the film and definitely deserved death, but the government blocked this for their own selfish purposes. Give Maggie credit: She could've remained a conscience-less killing machine at the government's beck & call, making good money and living "well", like The Cleaner -- a lifeless, loveless shell of a human being; a living zombie -- but she refuses to do this and even risks capture & certain death in order to find freedom.
In short, she was
redeemed.
=========================
"I... don't... see... any... method... at... all... sir."
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