Based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” tells the story of 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) as her parents (Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie) move out of New York City and into the suburbs of New Jersey. Margaret is nervous to start a new school, make new friends (Elle Graham as Nancy, Amari Alexis Price as Janie and Katherine Mallen Kupferer as Gretchen) and worst of all, she is behind on all the stages of becoming a woman. Her only source of comfort comes when she hangs out with her grandmother (Kathy Bates) but other family struggles plague the family that Margaret never knew.
If you are looking for a coming-of-age film that perfectly encapsulates what it means to be a pre-teen girl, this is the movie for you. Even though the film takes place in the 1970s, the main themes of the film are timeless. Young girls will always be worried about making friends and trying to fit in with them when they move to a completely different lifestyle and “Margaret” is able to show how just because the first people to reach out to you may seem nice does not always mean that they should be the ones you stick around with. The struggles of going through puberty are also a timeless feature that girls will go through. As someone who has gone through female puberty, even though I was not even born during this time period, I was still able to think back to the time I was experiencing these events for myself. When you are able to create a film that can connect to all of its audience members who have gone through, or know someone who has gone through, female puberty and set it during a time that is not the present, that is the sign of a quality film. These themes are timeless and your film should be able to live on past its time period.
The script lends itself to be a timeless classic. One of the best parts about it is that it has dialogue that anyone is able to make easy connections to it. The scenes between the friends reminded me so much of how my friends and I would talk to each other at their age about everything from boys to class to puberty. It made me cringe at times, but the good kind where it reminded me of how embarrassing we all are at the middle school age. When a film is able to make you have a physical reaction to it because of sheer embarrassment, then I consider that a good script. At times, it did seem like certain scenes overstayed their welcome, but nothing too much to bring me out of the story completely. There is a lot of heart in this story and they are not afraid to touch upon some heavy topics. When friends lie to you or your family is not whole because of something that seems so trivial, it can be a lot on a young person especially when your hormones are changing so rapidly during puberty. Anyone is able to relate to these feelings of confusion on why certain things have to happen and that is what makes this movie such a gem in the coming-of-age genre.
The performances are another highlight of this movie. I am still not used to seeing McAdams in a mother role as she will always be the iconic Regina George to me, but everything about her character is relatable. She is a mother who is trying to become the “perfect suburban mom” instead of what she was doing before in the city. The way McAdams is able to portray this feeling that so many moms go through and probably have never noticed or said anything before was perfectly executed. The children in the movie are some of the most enjoyable child actors I have seen in a long time. It does not feel like any of them are actually acting; they are just being kids and that is a great sign for their futures in the field. The standout is Fortson as the titular Margaret as she is able to bring all of the emotions and feelings I felt at her age to this role. There is a lot of confusion when you are put in a new situation especially at this age and Fortson reminded me so much of myself at that age and I loved it. Look out for her and the other wonderful young ladies in the future.
A quircky coming-of-age for all ages that may have had a few lull moments for myself but that one that has continued to stay in my mind over the past week.
