There’s lot of movies made for boys. The coming-of-age genre is filled with hundreds of examples, like Dune, the Perks of Being a Wallflower, or Harry Potter. While there are some cinematic examples of coming-of-age films for girls, there’s much more to be found in the world of literature. And a beloved author by the name of Judy Blume has many such examples.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is one such example of her work, directed and adapted to film here by Kelly Fremon Craig (who previously made the Edge of Seventeen). It tells the tale of an 11 year old girl called Margaret (played by Abby Ryder Fortson from Ant-Man). She and her family have recently moved from the bustling NYC to the quiet suburbs of New Jersey. She’s always been a little confused about her religion, growing up with a Christian mother (Rachel McAdams from the Notebook) and a Jewish father (Benny Safdie from Licorice Pizza).
But she’s not just dealing with religious angst, she’s also got to deal with the pressures of a new school and the worries of growing up. Fortson excels as the film’s lead, especially in the scenes where she tries to pray. She knows she’s just talking to herself, but remains ever hopeful there is something there listening. It’s very hard to accurately portray the confusion of interacting with a supposedly divine being that doesn’t directly interact with you, and Fortson is stellar in these scenes.
But the film’s real star is Rachel McAdams, playing the mother holding the family together. She functions as the film’s deuteragonist, a smart decision by the filmmakers. McAdams plays a friend, a guide, and a fantastic mother always willing to listen. Her character runs the gamut of emotions, including intense pain and utter delight. Without her, this film could very easily fall apart.
Both Fortson and McAdams are matched with great performances from Safdie and Kathy Bates (from Richard Jewell) as the rest of the family. But this film has to walk a delicate line in putting the viewer in the shows of a young girl, and it does fantastic work in that regard. All it does is by simply explaining everything, and showing it all from a place of empathy. This film isn’t talking down to its viewers, nor is it trying to over-explain. All it does is treat the viewer exactly like it should, like people.
Films like this are ones you might not consider watching, you might see an ad and skip over it. It might just leave your memory because it’s not the latest superhero film, or the latest family car adventure with Vin Diesel. But films like Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret are important, because they do what good films do. They show you a perspective you might not know about. They inform, they engage, they teach. These are the films worth watching, and especially worth sharing with your children.
This film gets a 4/5, and you can watch in cinemas now.
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