#MovieReview: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a wonderful film that is one of the best coming of age stories put to screen in years.

Based on the seminal Judy Blume novel of the same name, Margaret has been a touchstone of literature for generations of pre-teens and teenagers on the cusp of puberty since its publication in 1970.

Unafraid to ask questions about the human body, family and, as the title suggests, religion, there is a reason why the book is among Blume’s most beloved.

All the more reason why an adaptation had every chance of failure, but under the steady hand of writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig, this gem of a movie is anything but.

It is Fremon Craig’s second outing in the director’s chair after 2016’s equally impressive The Edge of Seventeen, which shows she has an almost unrivalled grasp on the genre which is so often poorly rendered.

How rare and pleasing it is to see a director who treats child and teenage characters as real people with feelings, thoughts and ambitions rather than as some amalgam of adult insecurities.

And it is exactly that which all of the best examples in coming-of-age cinema achieve, where you root for the character because you see yourself in them.

Margaret does nothing crazy, but hits all the right notes on a way to an endpoint where you’ll realise you have been thoroughly charmed along the way.

Deceptive simplicity is no mean feat and should be as celebrated as any showy Oscar-bait or overly complex CGI-fest.

Spoilers to follow

Titular character Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) is a confused but well-meaning 11-year-old kid who understands more than her parents think, but is also youthfully naïve.

Her family moves out of New York and she is forced to face a new school right as her body and hormones begin to change.

She is confronted by boys and her first period and a tug-of-war between her grandparents, one side of whom wants her to be Jewish and the other Christian.

Stuck in the middle of all of this is a young girl just trying to figure out what being Margaret means.

This should be compulsory viewing for families with children, if for no other reason so that the kids can see they are not alone in their confusion about themselves and the world around them.

Margaret is a lovely film, watch it as soon as you get the opportunity.

Rated PG-13 for some language and suggestive themes.
4.5/5.

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