Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
One of the best coming-of-age stories for young girls, period.
Kathy Bates and Abby Ryder Fortson laugh it up in Kelly Fremon Craig's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) just wants to be normal. As she enters sixth grade in a new school, it’s important to her that she fits in. Margaret thinks she finds her place when brash Nancy (Elle Graham) invites her to join her secret friend club.
It’s quite the boon. Margaret is over the moon to hang out with her new group and agrees to abide by their rules — no socks, all boys must be ranked in a book according to attractiveness, and all the girls must wear bras. Sure, Margaret doesn’t need a bra, but she’s willing to get one.
And there’s one last thing: The group is obsessed with the idea of getting their period. Long the symbol of “becoming a woman”, Nancy bills the concept of a monthly visitor as the ultimate act of maturity. As the year progresses, the girls start their campaigns to become women, via exercises designed to enhance their chests and playing spin-the-bottle with boys.
While Margaret’s glad to be a part of Nancy’s clique, she starts to question some of the things she’s being told. So she turns to a trusted source — God. Margaret starts chatting with the being upstairs, expressing her fears, her doubts, and her frustrations.
There’s only one problem: Margaret’s not sure who she’s talking to.
Her parents are adamant that Margaret should be raised without a specific religion. They want Margaret to choose for herself when she’s an adult. In hopes of finding answers to the changes she’s experiencing, and perhaps a spiritual community to support her, Margaret starts to investigate different religions.
Can one girl pick a god, increase her bust, and get her period in one year? Or is Margaret going to have to wait until she’s 13?
So many coming-of-age movies are for boys and feature them having adventures in the woods or playing baseball. If a coming-of-age movie features women, it’s usually in a romantic context, wherein they become a woman through a first relationship. But Judy Blume’s classic novel wasn’t interested in presenting readers with a romantic fantasy. Growing up is weird — your body becomes alien as it develops, there are suddenly social hierarchies and rules to obey, your friends tell your outlandish information that you believe, and your parents become incredibly embarrassing.
Blume met her readers where they were, detailing the oddities of puberty and looking at girls with clear eyes. Girls are silly. Girls are wonderful. Girls are mean. Girls both crave and fear change. And by offering up such a realistic portrait of growing up, Blume gave many pre-teen girls (including this reviewer) a gift: knowing they aren’t alone or abnormal. There is comfort in knowing that the physical and emotional upheavals you experience are normal, that they’re all just part of growing up.
Because of the impact it’s made, Blume was notoriously protective over the rights of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. After decades of turning down lucrative film rights, it’s clear Blume made the right choice by entrusting director Kelly Fremon Craig with the adaptation of her most famous work. Fremon Craig preserves the core of Blume’s novel — an examination of girlhood and all the complex foibles that come with it — and expands the world.
We get a look at Margaret’s mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), an art teacher who’s trying her best to settle into her new life as a housewife. Barbara is unfailingly kind, but that kindness comes from a deep wound she rarely talks about. As Margaret learns more about her mother, her views on the world shift again. Margaret also learns more about her grandmother Silvia (Kathy Bates), who is facing her own crisis as she tries to figure out the next stage of her life. It’s another bump in the road as you grow up, realizing your parents and grandparents aren’t merely there for your upkeep, but complex people with hurts and pasts you’re only just discovering.
Beyond expanding the world and developing the characters, Fremon Craig also takes pains to keep the setting as accurate as possible. Margaret is living through 1970, and the camera catches the macrame plant hangers to prove it. But while many films would lean into the 70s tropes like bellbottoms and peace signs, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. takes a subtler approach. This is the 70s of suburban New Jersey, with all the wood paneling and muted mustard tones that entails. It’s a much more lived-in, realistic aesthetic, and it evokes memories of old pictures you’d find in your family albums.
While Fremon Craig worked to capture the setting and the themes of Blume’s work, the real lynchpin of the movie is Abby Ryder Fortson. Her Margaret is a whirlwind of emotions. She’s a good kid at heart, but that doesn’t mean she won’t say cruel things to classmates or her parents when she’s feeling unsure about the world. Fortson manages to convey how unmoored Margaret feels with subtle twists of her eyebrows and pursing of her lips. It’s a beautiful and natural performance that helps make Margaret relatable for those watching.
If you’re a fan of the book, or just looking for a sweet tender film that captures some of the timeless elements of growing up, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is just the ticket. A wonderful movie for any preteen girl, that’s funny and smart enough to entertain most audiences, this is a rare breed of young adult film. Take your kids, take your friends, or (like me) take your mom. This is a crowd-pleaser with a heart of gold.
Verdict: A movie with a big heart and lots to say, this flick is an instant classic.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is rated PG-13 and available in theaters April 28.
