Jonah Naplan April 28, 2023
What a wonderful delight this film is. “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” is a movie adapted from a beloved novel by Judy Blume, written back in 1970, but its important overarching themes remain incredibly prevalent today. It’s a smart, and often very funny film about the perceptions people have about certain religions, and the worshippers that belong to them. A young and eager yet precocious young Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) finds herself in the midst of it all, going through family drama but also her own personal struggles regarding new friends, finding her voice, puberty, and whether or not the cute boy on her street will notice her. Many of these concepts aren’t new to any of us, but her journey as a young woman kept winning me back by being endlessly relatable and timely.
Most coming-of-age movies—especially ones centered around teens—ride or die primarily on whether or not the lead actor or actress can manage to be likable without being too cloying, if cloying at all. Fortson is absolutely perfect here. The former “Ant-Man” star fully embraces the type of role that I can imagine is very difficult to embody. In the beginning of the film, Margaret goes through a massive shift as she and her parents move to the suburbs of New Jersey from that little, not too well known city across the river. A wonderful Rachel McAdams plays Barbara, Margaret’s mother, who grew up Christian but left all faith entirely when her parents turned their backs once she fell in love with and aspired to marry a Jewish man, Margaret’s father, Herb (Benny Safdie). Herb’s mother Sylvia (Kathy Bates) is a very prolific Jew and hopes that Margaret—who doesn’t and has been told not to identify with any particular religion—will one day decide to follow in the footsteps of her father’s family, and observe Judaism.
It’s the summer of 1970 when Margaret returns from summer camp to find boxes upon boxes engulfing her New York City home. Grandma Sylvia blurts out that her family has foolishly decided to move across the Hudson, and so begins a saga of insecurity as Margaret gets used to her new life in Jersey—a place that is seen as fairly rotten in the movie. Screenwriter and director Kelly Fremon Craig is bluntly straight to the point with where things pick up; it appears as if Margaret has made new friends within a week, initiated by her new neighbor Nancy (Elle Graham), who first invites her to run through sprinklers, lending Margaret a spare swim suit. In the days that follow, Margaret begins sixth grade at a new school, joining a special club alongside Nancy and fellow students Gretchen (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) and Janie (Amari Price). There are few rules to this secret, gossip-spreading club, other than the fact that the members cannot wear socks, and they must wear a bra.
The film contains many scenes talking about female organs and the young girls’ wonder at what theirs will look like once they hit puberty. Periods, breasts, you name it. The four girls look at human anatomy books and Playboy with awe. In one of the film’s funniest scenes, the spunky Nancy reveals a motivational trick she uses to enhance her perkiness, introducing the girls to training bras and reciting over and over again: “I must, I must, I must increase my bust.”
Craig shoots all of these scenes with an acknowledgement that what is unfolding in front of us is obviously silly, but it’s all portrayed with a raw lovability that it becomes crowd-pleasing. The foursome discuss boys, particularly Philip Leroy (Zackary Brooks), the typical show-offy, closeted jerk whom they all naively admire, and also the matured body of Laura Danker (Isol Young), the black sheep of their sixth grade class who is inching towards adolescence. The bullying and admiration and blind-sidedness and desperation to fit in all reminds me of “Mean Girls,” although I realize that film came way after this book.
In “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.,” Margaret is Cady, attempting to find her place within an already established trio who have a collective reputation for being bitchy. They bully, admire, look up to, and condemn the people they see fit. Interestingly—and unrelated—Rachel McAdams stars in both, but in two very different roles. Margaret has been assigned a year-long research project, and is persuaded to do it on religion, after telling her teacher that she “hates” religious holidays. She wants to find a religion that suits her best, going to synagogue with Sylvia, and church with Janie. In one scene, she follows Laura, who is Catholic, into confession. Margaret talks to God—whomever that represents in the world of this film—throughout, asking for advice, forgiveness, and strength.
Yet, “Are You There God?” is not a religious movie, even if it is one so obviously about religion in one way or another. A “religious movie” would lean heavily on the side of one group, and would possibly ridicule the other. “Are You There God?” does not do this, rather it is a parable about the issues pertaining to both sides of the debate, chronicling a meditative, thoughtful and witty commentary on what we’ve perceived as norms. It engenders tense feeling from the viewer, leaving us to inspect the homogeneity of both Christianity, in all its forms, and Judaism, a religion with a language embedded that even Sylvia can’t understand.
Notice a supremely tense moment where both sets of Margaret’s grandparents must come to terms with how their granddaughter has evolved beyond their expectations, and has, even without the guise of her parents, left all glimpse of categorization behind. Religion strikes the Simon family harder as an issue that can never seem to be compromised upon, let alone resolved. The devout Christians are up against the New York Jews in a scene that sits as one of the most powerful of the year so far. The relevance a movie like this still holds today is remarkable. Craig knows this, and is smart to not pander or diminish any one group. It is merely a film stating what is and what is not.
Margaret’s pubertal journey is not just the way in which she develops her aplomb, but it is also how she gains the confidence to decide who or what she wants to believe in, taking the best from both worlds. Fortson, who was only twelve when the film began shooting, is simply magnificent here, as is a career-best performance from McAdams who performs with a tactile range that is equal parts buoyant and tragic. This is a wonderfully crafted and realized film, that is incredibly entertaining but also crucial to the modern day. Its message still matters. The story still matters. Margaret still matters.
Now playing in theaters.