THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When you’re a kid, you anticipate the traits that set us up for maturity. But sometimes, you have to be patient for it all in order to respect yourself. And by the time those traits kicks in, it’ll all be worth it.
PLOT
Based on the titular novel by Judy Blume, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret takes place in 1970 and follows Margaret Ann Simon who lives with her stay at home mother Barbara and working father Herbert. As an eleven year old, she is nervous of life drastically changing as her family will now move from New York to New Jersey. The majority of her worry goes to the fact of not seeing her paternal grandmother Sylvia. As a way to cope with this new chapter in life, she decides to communicate with God to talk of all her concerns, hopes & anxieties. On the day she moves into New Jersey, she quickly makes a new friend out of her neighbor and eventual classmate Nancy Wheeler. Together, they a form a group to talk about their own experiences with puberty. The rest of the group includes two young girls named Gretchen Potter (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) and Janie Loomis (Amari Alex Price). Their rules include not to lie and to always wear a bra. At school, Margaret is given a year long research assignment. When her teacher Mr. Benedict learns she doesn’t like religious holidays, she would explain how it comes from her parents having different religions (Herb being Jewish and Barbara being Christian). With that being a factor, they chose to let her decide what religious path she wants to follow when she gets older. Prompted by the assignment, Margaret asks her mom for the first time why she hasn’t met her maternal grandparents yet. Barbara would reveal that her parents shockingly chose to disown her for marrying a Jewish man. As she later spends a weekend in NY with Sylvia, she asks her to attend her Jewish temple, in which she happily takes her to. In the meantime, Barbara tries fitting in by signing up for multiple PTA related committees, which would draw her away from her hobby from painting. Margaret would continue fitting in when having her first kiss with a boy named Philip Leroy (Zack Brooks) at a birthday party. This would only make her grow impatient with puberty, especially with Gretchen and Nancy apparently getting their periods before her. So, she and Janie choose to be prepared for it by buying menstrual pads at a drugstore. However, Margaret would soon find out Nancy was lying when she gets it for real during a night out in New York. At school, she would later be assigned to a group project with Laura Danker (Isol Young), a classmate who’s picked on by other classmates, mostly by Nancy, for being more developed. When working together, she would bring up false rumors of her, which would predictably upset her and cause her to storm out. Seeing how terrible she felt, Margaret would feel guilty of her actions and question if she and Nancy are meant to be friends. During spring break, she was hoping to go to Florida with Sylvia, but it would change when Barbara reaches out to her parents, Paul and Mary (Gary Houston and Mia Dillon), who want to see her for the first time. Upset of plans being cancelled, Sylvia would visit New York on the day of the maternal grandparents' visit. After they all enjoy dinner together, hostility quickly rises when they argue on which religion Margaret should convert to. However, the child would end the conflict by claiming she doesn't believe in God. When she turns in her research paper, she expresses how religion has only made her disillusioned. However, she does come around in reconciling with her family. As the school year reaches an end, she does thank Mr. Benedict for being a good teacher. She would even befriend Laura by dancing with her at an end of school year party. Barbara would also stop volunteering for PTA committees to resume teaching painting. As she prepares to go to summer camp again, she plans to spend time with a neighborhood boy she has a crush on named Moose Freed (Aidan Wotjak-Hissong$. Before leaving, she has her first period and excitedly tells her mom about it. The film would end with her thanking God for giving her an official first step in adulthood.
THOUGHTS
If there is anything like from movies they can do, it is making me smile and this one succeeds in doing so and then some. Writer/Director Kelly Fremon Craig surprised me big time with sharing a story to meant to be seen by generations of audiences. She is able to show us the highs and lows of puberty and it's handled in the most careful manner. The highs about it is where I was laughing because our new interests in how our body changes are always where we become our most curious. Seeing a group of girls go through it is hilarious because their minds are just as different as everyone else's. I feel like since the book, many have already made fair use of the motto "I must, I must, I must increase my bust". Then again, there are still lows because the changes we want to prepare for won't always go as planned. In the end, the true theme of this story will always be out finding yourself and never letting others decide for you. That's exactly what we got when following the shoes of the titular lead. Abby Ryder Fortson grows up in our very eyes for generally being the kindest soul of the whole film as Margaret. Every decision she makes comes from her curiosity because to being aware she's getting older, she's trying to figure herself out. With puberty and religion being two big factors, she wants to make sure each decision involving them are worth it. She tries out the temple and other churches because she wants to find comfort within at least one. She doesn't pick one by the end because she doesn't need it. There is no law to say you need religion to be a better person. She knew that faster than others and let it go to avoid confusing herself. Her private conversations to God are enough for her to find solace. And as for her experience with puberty, she had it different compared to the other girls around her. Seeing the difference of Laura and Nancy's development, she wasn't sure how her body should react. Once she noticed it's different for everyone, she accepted there is nothing wrong in meeting people's expectations because you don't need to satisfy them for their attention. She slowly had to cut her ties with Nancy because she saw how much sourness she had deep down and chose to react poorly, who was well played by Elle Graham. She chose to give Laura a chance not for feeling bad, but for accepting her growth. She gives a fair amount of credit to Mr Benedict because as Echo Kellum portrays him, he knows patience better than the other characters due to the setting being his first year on the job. And in return, he teaches the same to his students. He insisted only one thing from Margaret and set up trail she would follow. Apart from him, there were many people in her life already who took their own different paths and gave her the advice she needed to be on the right path she'd accept to be right. It's a given to fall in love with Rachel McAdams every time she is onscreen because that is how talented she's been as an actress. It's no different here when playing Barbara because she proved to be a great mom by teaching Margaret of being patience with adulthood. At the same time, she even teaches her to never forget about your family no matter how different they are. That is where she differs from her husband Herb because Benny Safdie showed him to be a guy who wanted to avoid something guaranteed to go wrong, while still be a loving dad to his daughter. He had every right to not forgive Barbara's parents for how they were to him, which defends his case on being upset Barbara reached out first. You do wish Barbara gave him a heads up, but she couldn't help it being hopeful they will change until sadly being proven wrong. Apart from that, Barbara was able to teach us to not let go of your own interests with something you don't like. She wanted to fit in with the PTA, but every time she missed out on her hobby of painting. So she did the right thing going back to teaching it because she didn't need to impress anybody. I'm not a parent as of writing this, but I definitely felt a connection to her when she walks out the bathroom during the end. She's without a doubt happy her daughter is growing up and is going to miss taking care of her when she's older. I felt a connection because I have many younger siblings in my life. They're growing up so fast and even I will miss the days of them needing me. Last but not least, there's no love on par with parental love than the love of grandparents. Kathy Bates made a national treasure out of Sylvia for being the most open minded of grandmas in comparison. She will always love Margaret no matter what, but she gets firm about being Jewish because it has made her happy and wants the same for her. If Barbara's parents had never made a return, she would not have to put pressure on her like she did. I don't even blame her for getting carried away about it because even she knew what her son dealt with and felt bad of what happened to her daughter in law. When there isn't a family feud, she will always be someone who will never stop in sharing unconditional love. This movie is without question very heartwarming to get through, but there were a few moments I was scratching my head about. Going from the top, shouldn't Nancy have been a little less forward when meeting Maggie? I know she's trying to make friends, but you are risking to lose one very fast if you're practicing kissing with your bedside pole, no matter how funny that was. And I don't even blame Margaret for being open minded, but I think she came a little too strong asking about her maternal grandparents. I mean she is very lucky Barbara quickly caved in talking about their past. And on top of that, I don't think a furniture store is a good place to openly talk about periods. I know it's normal for women to go through, but there's always gonna be someone uncomfortable about that subject and Margaret is lucky no one said anything apart from her mom. Other than that, this movie is an overall joy to get through. In short, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret is one of 2023's brightest films for being the definitive coming of age film in modern times. Whichever kind of viewer you are that has their own set of curiosity, this can open your eyes.
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