“I think it’s finally time for me to decide.” This is what 11-year-old Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) says about religion in “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” the new film based on Judy Blume’s 1970 coming-of-age novel.
You probably already know the story: After moving from the bustling streets of New York City to the New Jersey suburbs, Margaret’s new sixth grade teacher assigns her a class project on religion. But with one Jewish parent and one Christian parent, Margaret was not raised to believe in something simply because her parents say so, but rather to believe in nothing until she figures it out for herself.
Although Margaret’s words here apply specifically to religion, there’s an abundance of choices she could be referring to. Who she wants to be friends with, or what kind of life she wants to lead. Which boy she has a crush on, or whether or not she’s ready for a bra. Margaret’s life is defined by choices and change, both physically and emotionally. But whatever the choice, the masterstroke that allows writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig’s film to burrow its way into your heart is the same thing that’s always kept Blume’s seminal work so enduring. It takes the challenges that young girls and women of all ages face – from the frivolous to the monumental – and treats them with the utmost sincerity and empathy.
Like so many of us, Craig first came across Margaret at a young age, and was able to take that almost instinctual understanding of Blume’s book and expand it for a cinematic story. While the novel is written from Margaret’s point of view, Craig includes the perspectives of Margaret’s mother Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and her grandmother Sylvia (Kathy Bates). The end result is a frank, funny, and humane meditation on the many stages of womanhood, and the confusion, trepidation, and exuberance they bring.
Margaret’s story may be over 50 years old, but despite the stellar 1970s production design, nothing about this film’s central thesis feels dated. “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” never shies away from the complexities of growing up, but still manages to walk a tight, thin line of emotionality. It’s sweet, but never saccharine. It’s funny, but never ridiculous. And while it can be harsh, it never comes across as mean. In particular, watching the friendship between Margaret and her newfound New Jersey crew portrays that budding relationship with equal parts joy and jealousy, sweetness and snark, and always with a deeply empathetic view. We may chuckle at their preteen plights, and we may feel our hearts constrict when one of them gives into a bout of spite or cruelty, but the film is never having a laugh or a judgment at their expense.
Craig, standing on the shoulders of Blume before her, effortlessly blends the humor and joy of young girlhood with the confusion of its tougher moments. When Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham), the de facto leader of the group and the closest the film gets to a stereotypical “mean girl,” is not the first to get her period, her befuddlement is played for laughs. She later lies to the group, pretending that she too has become a woman, but that illusion is soon shattered. The moment where Nancy does get her first period – a moment which Margaret is there to witness – only brings her fear and embarrassment. A lesser film might bring those same feelings to the craft itself, or view this moment as some sort of comeuppance for Nancy. But despite some of Nancy’s lesser qualities (and partly due to Graham’s scene stealing performance) the camera never has anything but care for her. The way we hear her voice tremble from outside the stall, the way her fearful face is tightly framed, and Graham’s heartbreaking performance allows no room for contempt.
It’s rare to find a group of young actors who can carry a film this nuanced and this funny, but this young cast is more than up to the job. Fortson carries many of the film’s weightier moments on her awkward, yet mighty shoulders, but in a slight deviation from the novel, she also shares that weight with her adult co-stars. For as much as “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” holds up puberty as one of the most pivotal times in your life, it takes care to remind us that the changes don’t stop there. There will always be big decisions to make, no matter your age. For Margaret’s grandmother Sylvia, those choices involve figuring out how to fill her life after her family moves away from the city. For her mother Barbara, they involve trying to find the best way to be a good mother to a preteen while still taking care of herself.
As Sylvia, Bates offers brassy comic relief, but McAdams turns in a luminous performance as Barbara, whose relationship to motherhood, work, and family are tested throughout the film. McAdams and Fortson have an intuitive mother-daughter chemistry, and are able to seamlessly shuffle their dynamic as their relationship inevitably evolves. The pair have numerous conversations, some that Margaret is ready for and some she might not be so ready for, but need to happen anyway. Barbara’s responses to Margaret’s questions are quite often funny, but the way McAdams plays each moment with her expression is where her performance really shines. With just her face, she captures that fraught dichotomy between telling your child the truth and trying to shield them from harsh realities, and just how hard it is to walk that tightrope. In a particularly painful moment after an argument, words escape her and she simply motions to Margaret, then resolutely at herself, physically shouldering the blame for the fight that’s just occurred. McAdams encapsulates the anxiety that comes with the moment when your child starts to grow up, and the question of how best to help them achieve that growth.
In a moviegoing age where films with multi-generational appeal feel increasingly rare, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” threads that needle with heart and humor. No matter your age, something about Margaret’s story is bound to resonate. There’s a reason she’s made it this far.