When her family moves from the city to the suburbs, 11-year-old Margaret navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.
Based on a 1970 novel by Judy Blume, ‘Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.’ is a coming-of-age drama about a teenage girl coming to terms with her changing body as she goes through puberty just after her family have moved from New York to New Jersey. It is directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, whose last film was the equally charming coming-of-age drama ‘The Edge of Seventeen’ and this is a wonderful adaptation of a novel that had surprisingly not been adapted prior to now. I haven’t read the book but its themes seem just as relevant today as they would have done back then, and while it is likely to resonate more with women than with men, I really enjoyed it.
Abby Ryder Fortson stars as the titular Margaret, who is upset when her parents (Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie) move to New Jersey as her father has a new job, taking her away from her friends and her grandmother (Kathy Bates – providing most of the laughs). She makes new friends almost immediately and the film does a good job of depicting the friendship (specifically female friendship) of young teens as they start to develop more of an interest in the opposite sex than in toys. Fortson is great as Margaret, both enthusiastic and anxious, desperate to be older as many kids at that age are, and I felt the adult members of the ensemble were equally as great, even if it makes me feel old seeing Rachel McAdams now playing maternal roles! As the title suggests, religion is one of the themes that sits within the story primarily through Margaret, despite not being brought up in any faith, asking God regularly for help with her teenage worries and anxieties.
I thought ‘Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.’ was another really enjoyable coming-of-age movie with strong performances and a refreshingly open and naturalistic view of puberty, with plenty of laughs and smart observations that encapsulates both the joy and the distresses of growing up.
Rating: 4/5
Directed By: Kelly Fremon Craig
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Abby Ryder Fortson, Elle Graham, Benny Safdie, Kathy Bates, Echo Kellum and Isol Young
'I don't know. I've seen bad men raised up and good men brought to their knees' Train Dreams (2025) 