movie review for are you there god it's me margaret

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

The carefree dog days of a New Hampshire summer camp turn to the bustling verve of 1970s New York City before transitioning to a Norman Rockwell-esque suburban setting in Kelly Fremon Craig's lovely adaptation of Judy Blume 's landmark young adult novel "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."

"Please don't let New Jersey be too horrible," Margaret Simon (a wonderful Abby Ryder Fortson ) whispers to God as her family packs up their car and moves to the suburbs of New Jersey, the Big Apple's skyscrapers and crowded sidewalks giving way to supermarket parking lots, yard sales, and kids running through sprinklers. 

Almost as soon as they've pulled into their spacious new house, Margaret is invited by her new neighbor Nancy ( Elle Graham , buoyant) to join her in running through those same dreamy sprinklers, initiating her into this new suburban way of life. Margaret is both overwhelmed and charmed by Nancy's intense energy. She is overjoyed when Nancy asks her to join her secret club, along with fellow 6th graders Gretchen (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) and Janie (Amari Price). Through these friendships, Nancy will learn hard lessons about peer pressure, the pain of lies, and the power of being true to herself. 

When the girls' reveries are broken up by the shenanigans of Nancy's brother Evan (Landon S. Baxter) and his friend Moose ( Aidan Wojtak-Hissong ), the camera cuts to Margaret's POV as she inspects Moose's armpit hair, a moment that had me thinking of Karen Maine 's equally exquisite coming-of-age film " Yes, God, Yes ." This is Margaret's first blush at a crush, and as she holds her breath, we know her brain will be fixated on Moose for the rest of the film, though it might take her that long to do anything about it. 

All the girls in the club are starting to obsess over boys. Mainly Philip Leroy (Zackary Brooks), a pretty boy who's already proving to be quite the jerk, though the girls haven't enough experience yet to realize it. At school and in their club meetings, the girls gossip about other students, particularly Laura Danker (Isol Young), whose already matured body is leading the way into adolescence. As they wait to see who will get their period first, they attempt to hurry the process of puberty along by getting training bras and reciting, "I must, I must, I must increase my bust." Craig films these scenes with such loving compassion for the girls, never painting them as silly even when they're at their silliest. But also never shying away from how casually cruel—in the guise of honesty—they can be. 

But Margaret's coming-of-age journey is not just that of a biological manner. After writing that she does not like "religious holidays" in a get-to-know-me paper, her teacher assigns Margaret to research religion for a year-long class assignment. Margaret has no religion as her parents Barbara ( Rachel McAdams , luminous) and Herb ( Benny Safdie ), want her to choose her own when she grows up, much to the chagrin of Herb's mother, Sylvia ( Kathy Bates , delightful). 

It's here the film departs the most from the source material. While in Blume's book, Margaret tells her friends why she has no religion, in the film, she's unsure and asks her mother. In a completely heart-wrenching sequence, Barbara explains to her daughter that as "devout Christians," her parents didn't want a Jewish son-in-law, so if she married Herb, she would no longer be their daughter. 

By giving this speech to Barbara, Craig teases out on a much larger scale the theme of how the choices of one's parents can affect their children long into adulthood. Although it's somewhat present in Blume's writing, the book's focus is so laser-pointed on Margaret's experience that her parents are almost blank canvases. However, through Craig's adaptation, Barbara becomes just as fleshed out as Margaret herself. 

Details from the book, like how Barbara likes to paint, are writ large, with her now leaving behind a career as an art teacher in this move to the suburbs. As Margaret adjusts to life at a new school, so does Barbara. Less fulfilled with the burden of buying a new living room set for their house or joining a million PTA committees than she thought she would be, Barbara surrounds herself with her paintings, yearning to find some semblance of artistic inspiration in this new life. 

In the hands of McAdams, one of her generation's most emotionally charged performers, Barbara becomes more than just a stereotypical overworked mom. Her warmth radiates throughout the film, as she must be both a safe harbor for Margaret's ever-changing moods and also a ship on her own rocky journey toward self-actualization. McAdams is so mesmerizing in this role that she almost overpowers Margaret's story and, in doing so, shines a light on the film's one fault. 

In creating a larger part for Barbara, Craig's film is not just a coming-of-age story but also a deeper examination of the sacrifices, trauma, and safety that women can find while building their own families. Yet, due to uneven scripting or editing, her internal journey is not as seamlessly integrated with Margaret's as it could be. Although Barbara keeps much of her internal struggles to herself, the film still left me wishing we knew how Margaret felt about Barbara's attempted reconciliation with her parents or how Barbara felt about Margaret's coming puberty.

Despite this slight hiccup, Craig's spin on Blume's classic is just as exhilarating as her debut film " The Edge of Seventeen ." Her deep respect for the foibles of girldom and her emotionally intelligent exploration of prickly family dynamics make her a perfect match for the material and elevates "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." far above most modern films that attempt to tackle similar material. 

Fortson is fantastic as the iconic Margaret, channeling her conflicting moods with aplomb. As are the other girls, their friend chemistry is reminiscent of that crafted by the cast of the 1995 classic "Now & Then." But ultimately, this film belongs to McAdams, whose incandescent performance should be remembered not just as end-of-the-year lists start to roll in but also as perhaps her most accomplished performance yet. 

Available in theaters on April 28th. 

Marya E. Gates

Marya E. Gates is a freelance film and culture writer based in Los Angeles and Chicago. She studied Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, and also has an overpriced and underused MFA in Film Production. Other bylines include Moviefone, The Playlist, Crooked Marquee, Nerdist, and Vulture. 

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

• Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret Simon
• Rachel McAdams as Barbara Simon
• Kathy Bates as Sylvia Simon
• Benny Safdie as Herbert Simon
• Wilbur Fitzgerald as Morris Binamin
• Elle Graham as Nancy Wheeler
• Ethan McDowell as Mr. Wheeler
• Mia Dillon as Mary Hutchins
• JeCobi Swain as Freddy Barnett
• Gary Houston as Paul Hutchins
• Aidan Wojtak-Hissong as Moose Freed
• Sloane Warren as Mrs. Fisher
• Hans Zimmer

Writer (novel)

• Kelly Fremon Craig
• Oona Flaherty

Cinematographer

Leave a comment, now playing.

Small Things Like These

Bird (2024)

Meanwhile on Earth

Christmas Eve in Miller's Point

Stockholm Bloodbath

The Last Rifleman

Weekend in Taipei

Youth (Homecoming)

The Piano Lesson

Latest articles.

Apple TV’s “Silo” Returns for Daring Second Season

Black Harvest Film Festival 2024 Preview

A Prophet is Without Honor in His Own Country; or, The Curious Case of Clint Eastwood

Living Forward: Adam Elliot on "Memoir of a Snail"

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

• Entertainment
• <i>Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret</i> Does Justice to a Teen Classic—and Speaks to Grownups, Too

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Does Justice to a Teen Classic—and Speaks to Grownups, Too

L ong before young-adult novels became the profitable juggernaut they are today, there was Judy Blume , who wrote about subjects and experiences—puberty, body-image anxiety, teen sex—that a certain sort of parent would never broach with their kids. Her frank approach was enough to get many of her books banned: in the mid 1980s they became a favorite target of the far-right Christian group Moral Majority, and one book in particular, Blume’s 1970 best-seller Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, has continued to raise ire among uptight types across the decades. Through the 1990s and 2000s, that book has held a comfortable spot on the American Library Association’s list of 100 most frequently banned works. What better endorsement can a book earn? And can a movie version do it justice?

The wonder of Kelly Fremon Craig’s film adaptation of Are You There God? isn’t just that it deals directly, and without condescension, with the vagaries of preteen awkwardness. It’s that it speaks so ardently to the adolescent in all of us—particularly, maybe, women who are going through menopause or already on the far side of it, an event that in some ways returns us to a lunar landscape whose contours we’d forgotten. The heroine of this story, set in 1970, is 11-year-old New York City girl Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) who, as the movie opens, is just returning home from a summer away at camp—we get brief glimpses of the fun she had, running and laughing with friends, in what we know are among her last moments of just being a little kid.

Margaret is barely off the camp bus when her father Herb ( Benny Safdie ) and gentle, art-teacher mom Barbara ( Rachel McAdams ) break the news that the family is moving to the Jersey suburbs. It’s the beginning of the end of her world: Margaret doesn’t want to leave the family’s cozy, cluttered apartment, or her friends at school, or, most of all, her grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates), a firecracker decked out in splashy prints and gumball-vivid costume jewelry. But this decision is beyond her control. She and her mother and father make the trek to a place that seems like a different planet from New York, with its scruffy bodegas and lattice network of fire escapes. The sudden sight of a supermarket set far off from the street, with an actual parking lot around it, is as much a shock to our system as it is to Margaret’s. What do people do with so much space?

Yet it’s not hard for Margaret to make new friends. Even before the moving cartons are unpacked there’s a girl around Margaret’s age coming to the door. Nancy (Elle Graham), lives nearby—“in the bigger house up the street,” she says brightly to Barbara—and where Margaret is thoughtful and somewhat cautious about the world, Nancy, brimming with faux sophistication, is ready to storm right into it. She almost instantaneously invites Margaret to be part of a secret club with two other girls, Gretchen (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) and Janie (Amari Alexis Price). There are rules: “No socks!” Nancy admonishes, and Margaret dutifully complies, even though her loafers give her blisters without them. The girls must all wear bras, even though Nancy, further ahead than the rest of them, is the only one who isn’t stuck with the stretchy training variety. They must each keep a book listing the names of the boys they like. (Margaret has her eye on one who’s escaped the radar of the others, a winsome-looking kid named Moose, played by Aidan Wojtak-Hissong.) And, perhaps most significantly, each girl is sworn to alert the others as soon as she menstruates for the first time, an event they all see as a triumphant milestone, though they won’t admit they’re a little scared of it too. At school, as the girls watch the classic “here’s what it means to be a woman” educational film that generations of preteens had to suffer through, the look on their faces says it all: So wait—that totally disgusting-sounding thing is actually going to happen to me?

Even so, Margaret doesn’t want to be the last of her friends to reach that marker of womanhood. What’s more, simply because she’s 11, she’s confused about just about everything, which is what leads her to try prayer on for size—though even that route provides little comfort, because her mother (raised by devout Christian parents, from whom she’s estranged) and her father (Jewish) have decided to let her choose her own religion when she’s ready.

Read More: The Best Judy Blume Books to Read at Every Age

Margaret’s little-girl doubts feel huge to her—these are the things we forget once we leave adolescence behind . We forget how much we wanted to rush to grow up, and also how, once it started happening, we weren’t sure how to adjust to this rattling new normal. Are You There God?, both funny and generous, brings it all back. Craig has navigated similar territory before: she wrote and directed the perceptive and vibrant 2016 comedy-drama The Edge of Seventeen . And she gets the tone and vibe of Are You There God? just right. Anticipating the onset of menses, and wanting to be prepared, Margaret and Janie suffer the embarrassment—there’s a guy behind the counter—of buying their first box of sanitary pads at the drugstore. (The brand is “Teenage Softies.”) At one of those ubiquitous preteen basement parties, the kids play one of those ridiculous yet terrifying kissing games—devised by Nancy, naturally—and Margaret gets matched with the cutest, coolest boy in the class, who, even though he later turns out to be a jerk, in that moment bestows the gentlest of kisses. (The music on the soundtrack is Dusty Springfield’s version of “Son of a Preacher Man,” one of the great songs about honey-sweet stolen moments.) And Craig knows how to direct our gaze in the subtlest ways. As Margaret watches Moose replace a fallen bird feeder in the branches of a tree, somehow we notice, just as she does, that he has just the littlest bit of hair under his arms. It’s a moment that brings you back to the days before you knew everything, where there were so many mysteries left to unfold.

This is also one of those rare teen movies where the parents aren’t duds: McAdams and Safdie are wonderful as parents who know they have to largely sit on the sidelines as Margaret navigates all this new confusion, though they’re also at the ready to catch her when she slips. The costuming—from Herb’s dad turtlenecks to Barbara’s art-teacher sandal-and-skirt combos to the other moms’ pristine twin sets—is perfect. (The costume designer is Ann Roth, a legend for a reason.)

And best of all, this is a movie where the kids really look like little kids, not just older actors playing younger. Their teeth haven’t yet evened out—they still have that ridged Chicklet look. Their hair gets messy as they go through their day. And Fortson is marvelous, capturing all of Margaret’s eager earnestness. Margaret has a subterranean intelligence that she can’t yet see, particularly in the context of Nancy’s dazzle (though, as we learn, Nancy has her own vulnerabilities). Of course, at least on the surface, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, adapted from an evergreen book, is designed for young people. But there’s a transportive quality about it too. I’m not sure it’s possible to watch it as a grownup and not see, somewhere on that screen, a version of the awkward little person you used to be . Maybe that feeling is particularly acute if you’re a woman, and it might hit even harder if you’ve reached the 50-year mark, when all the things you so eagerly waited for are well behind you. Now you know all the secrets. But deep inside, there will always be the girl who knew nothing at all.

More Must-Reads from TIME

• How Donald Trump Won
• The Best Inventions of 2024
• Why Sleep Is the Key to Living Longer
• Robert Zemeckis Just Wants to Move You
• How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
• Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself—And Won
• Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
• Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders

Contact us at [email protected]

Advertisement

Supported by

Critic’s Pick

‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’ Review: Periods and Question Marks

Judy Blume’s groundbreaking novel about puberty — and so much more — finally gets the adaptation it deserves.

• Share full article

By Lisa Kennedy

It is 1970 and the almost-12-year-old Margaret Simon returns from summer camp to boxes strewn about her family’s jammed New York City apartment. Why? Because she and her parents are moving to New Jersey, her grandmother blurts out before her folks can ease their only child into the news. And so begins the yearlong adventure at the heart of this pitch-perfect adaptation of the author Judy Blume’s “ Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret .”

The director-writer Kelly Fremon Craig’s rendering of the book about puberty, family and nascent spirituality offers lessons in how a cherished object, when treated with tender and thoughtful regard, needn’t turn precious. It doesn’t hurt that Craig and the producer James L. Brooks assembled a cast that delivers the joys and blunders waiting at the edge of childhood but also touches on the pangs of other kinds of growing up. Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie portray Margaret’s youthful parents, Barbara and Herb. Kathy Bates is Margaret’s paternal grandmother, Sylvia, of the aforementioned blurt.

But it is Abby Ryder Fortson who carries the day, or rather the school year. In her face, Margaret’s glimmers of dawning self-awareness and hurt ring true. From the moment the soon-to-be sixth grader utters the movie’s first prayer — which ends with the entreaty, “Please don’t let New Jersey be too horrible” — Fortson’s Margaret proves to be a protagonist who is as incidentally funny as she is authentic.

Margaret’s ability to register hope and skepticism gets only more endearing when she opens the door to her Mockingbird Lane neighbor and new classmate, Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham). In short order, Nancy invites Margaret over to her house and into her secret club. At the Wheeler home, Margaret also meets a friend of Nancy’s brother: the 14-year-old Moose (Aidan Wojtak-Hissong), who stays on the periphery of the action, representing ever so gently the ickiness but also the allure of boys.

Filling out their gang of four are the open-faced and openhearted Janie Loomis (Amari Price) and the wavy-haired, bespectacled Gretchen Potter (Katherine Kupferer). Together they will compare notes on boys they like, chant a famous mammary mantra, peek at a Playboy and peruse an anatomy book’s illustration of male genitals. But most of all, they’ll mildly obsess over (and maybe even fib about) which one of them will be the first to menstruate.

Not horrible at all, the movie’s Farbrook, N.J., has a halcyon glaze. As in the book, published in 1970, the issues challenging the United States at the time lie beyond the story’s frame. (Though it’s fun thinking of Blume’s novel as the little sister of another iconic book from the same year: the women’s health manual “Our Bodies, Ourselves.”) If the era’s edges are softened, it’s to make way for something differently roiling — as the narrator of a sex-education film will intone later in the movie, “our changing bodies.”

With subtlety, Craig breaks from the novel’s sweet-natured, first-person narration and transforms it into an overall aura. “Are You There God” becomes a coming-of-age saga for three generations of Simon women. McAdams makes quietly clear Barbara Simon isn’t entirely comfortable in her role as suburban mom. Bates’s Sylvia will be nudged to expand her own horizons after Margaret, her little best friend, moves.

Craig also broadens the novel’s reach. Margaret’s teacher, Mr. Benedict, is Black. (So is Janie Loomis.) Echo Kellum is understatedly winning as the new but sensitive sixth-grade teacher who picks up on Margaret’s response to a questionnaire — “I hate religious holidays” — and turns it into a yearlong assignment. Puberty provides most of the movie’s outright and tender comedy. But its depths are captured in Margaret’s seeking, in the notion that her No. 1 interlocutor might be a God she’s not even sure exists.

If Barbara handles her daughter’s request for a bra with respectful if amused aplomb, she’s thrown by Margaret’s plan to go to “temple” with Sylvia. (Herb’s even-tempered response: “You know what got me off of temple? Going to temple.”) Barbara and Herb are nonreligious. In the novel, Margaret already knows the reasons for her mom’s estrangement from her own parents: They are Christian. Herb is Jewish. Never the twain shall marry. The writer-director has taken that back story and cast it into a mother-and-daughter revelation and one of the film’s most commanding scenes.

That puberty and a nascent spiritual quest might begin in earnest at approximately the same time turns out to be one of the movie’s (and its source’s) most radical charms.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Rated PG-13 for themes involving sexual education and some suggestive material. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

A Tearful Talk : Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the stars of the new movie “Wicked,” reflected on their long ride together , getting through Covid and the actors’ strike, and avoiding “playing to the green.”

Capturing America : As the wildly popular TV western “Yellowstone” prepares to air its final episodes, we look at four ways it seized the country’s attention .

Recreating War-Torn London : “Blitz,” Steve McQueen’s latest film, set in 1940 during Germany’s bombardment of the British capital, draws extensively from wartime photos .

Streaming Guides:  If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Watching Newsletter:  Sign up to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows  to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘are you there god it’s me, margaret’ review: rachel mcadams in a judy blume adaptation that was worth the wait.

Kelly Fremon Craig ('The Edge of Seventeen') adapts the beloved novel about a girl on the cusp of puberty, with Abby Ryder Fortson, Benny Safdie and Kathy Bates co-starring.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Send an Email
• Show additional share options
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Pinterest
• Share on Reddit
• Share on Tumblr
• Share on Whats App
• Print the Article
• Post a Comment

Judy Blume never wanted her classic adolescent novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret turned into a film. The beloved author received numerous calls from Hollywood executives over the years asking for her blessing (and the rights). “Not every book has to be a movie,” the author said recently . “I just didn’t think it would ever be done in the way that I would have felt proud of.”

Related Stories

Kathy bates and 'matlock' boss on bringing nuance to #metoo conversation with powerful episode, 'matlock' earns quick season 2 renewal at cbs, are you there god it's me, margaret.

What a gift that Kelly Fremon Craig, the director of The Edge of Seventeen , still made an effort and sent Blume a note asking to adapt Margaret . And how lucky for us — fans of Margaret , Blume and good books in general — that Blume said yes. Now, more than 50 years later, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret has a charming, heartwarming and more than worthy screen adaptation.

The film is a success for many reasons. The cast — Abby Ryder Fortson plays Margaret, Rachel McAdams her mother, Benny Safdie her father and Kathy Bates Margaret’s paternal grandmother — helps. So does Hans Zimmer’s sonorous score, which is layered with whimsical beats that transport us to the novel’s original setting in the 1970s. But the magic of Craig’s adaptation comes from its respectful reanimation of the source material. It stays close to Margaret and her emotions, using them to honor an already sturdy narrative while also expanding our understanding of the world around her. There are peeks into the perspectives of other people, mostly the adults, that remind us that growing up never gets any easier.

Her prayer has the stiltedness of all first times. “Are you there God?” she timidly says (we hear this through voiceover). “It’s me, Margaret.” She asks him to stop the move. It doesn’t work. (One can only imagine how many calls God gets.) Nevertheless, the desperate action turns into comforting ritual. As Margaret makes her way through a new neighborhood, new friends and the peculiarity of puberty, she keeps God in the loop. Later, spurred by a school project from her teacher (Echo Kellum), she tries to find him through different religions.   

In The Edge of Seventeen , Craig proved her ability to build a story on a familiar sentimentality: Her endearing comedy is modeled after John Hughes films, which, more than anything, took the problems of its characters seriously. Samantha Baker’s anger with feeling invisible on the cusp of 16 or the social and family pressures the kids in The Breakfast Club face felt like a big deal because they were a big deal. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret does similar work. Craig, with cinematographer Tim Ives ( Stranger Things ), enlarges Margaret’s world and translates her heightened emotions by mixing lower-angle shots and close-ups. Memorable scenes include the iconic club meetings, in which Margaret and her friends Nancy (Elle Graham), Janie (Amari Price) and Gretchen (Katherine Kupferer) stand in a circle and chant: “We must, we must, we must increase our busts” in hopes of growing breasts.

Fortson gives us a Margaret worth rooting for. The actress assuredly handles the shifts between the protagonist’s joys, disappointments and loneliness. In her hands, Margaret becomes at once her own person — fully fleshed-out, detailed and lively — and the character that so many people sought out for comfort and validation. Her performance, just like the world Craig and her team have built, is one to get lost in.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret works because it’s a love letter from one Blume fan to many others. It is a responsible and uncomplicated adaptation, one that capitalizes on the story’s lore and legacy. But it’s not withholding, either. The film crucially invites a new generation to join Margaret in the weird, challenging and sometimes wonderful experience of getting older.

Full credits

Thr newsletters.

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Tony todd remembered by ‘candyman’ co-star virginia madsen: “a gentle soul with a deep knowledge of the arts”, merry saltzman, daughter of james bond producer harry saltzman, dies at 77 , tony todd, ‘candyman’ and ‘final destination’ actor, dies at 69, ‘ice age 6’ in production with ray romano, queen latifah returning, scad savannah film fest: 10 oscar-contending doc makers on films’ challenges, rewards (video), zendaya, anne hathaway join christopher nolan’s next movie.

Review: ‘Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret’ is as lovely and amazing as the Judy Blume novel

• Copy Link URL Copied!

What a wonder that the film adaptation of Judy Blume’s beloved 1970 young adult novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is as lovely, heartfelt and, indeed, deeply radical as the original text. Blume long resisted granting permission for her work to be adapted to the screen, but when director Kelly Fremon Craig and producer James L. Brooks approached her about “Margaret,” the 83-year-old author knew her storied work was in the right hands .

Fremon Craig proved her ability to capture the nuances of teenage life in “The Edge of Seventeen,” and with “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” for which she also wrote the screenplay, she delivers a wonderfully lived-in family dramedy about religion and sexuality and the importance of girls’ stories. It’s a film that is both warmly entertaining and downright revolutionary, considering the current state of discourse and legislation about women’s bodies in our country.

How Judy Blume’s ‘Margaret’ became a movie: Time travel and no streamers, for a start

Judy Blume, James L. Brooks and Kelly Fremon Craig hash out — and argue over — how they finally came to adapt “Are Your There God? It’s Me, Margaret.”

April 26, 2023

We first meet Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) at summer camp, a utopia of gloriously embodied girlhood: swimming, jumping, laughing, eating with her friends, the girls fully expressing a sense of liberated, uninhibited joy in their bodies, unscrutinized and unimpeded by outside forces.

This montage is a brilliant introduction to the story, emphasizing the rude awakening Margaret experiences when she’s ripped from her childhood home, a cozy, bohemian Manhattan apartment, and deposited across the river in a New Jersey suburb, separated from her dear grandmother Sylvia (Kathy Bates). It’s an upwardly mobile move that nevertheless leaves the Simon family floundering for their identities — Barbara ( Rachel McAdams ) struggles to be a good housewife, while dad Herb (Benny Safdie) flails at yard work, and Margaret must wade into the lion’s den that is the sixth grade, with all its attendant gender politics.

A bewildered Margaret is thrown into the gantlet of adolescence via her new neighbor, the unabashed and bold Nancy (Elle Graham), who introduces our heroine to bust-increasing exercises and the necessity of practicing kissing on a bedpost. In Nancy’s “secret club” (no socks allowed), Margaret finds a much-needed group of allies and a supposed safe space in which the girls talk with anxiety and excitement about the realities of puberty. But Nancy rules with an iron fist, fomenting a toxic dynamic of competition and bullying.

Much of “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is about the private and often confusing physical details of changing bodies and the harrowing journey of navigating these transitions in relation to other people. But it’s also about the way that Margaret develops as a person — intellectually, morally and spiritually. With a Jewish father and a Christian mother who raise her in a religious void, her teacher, Mr. Benedict (Echo Kellum), suggests Margaret do a research project on the subject of religion.

Judy Blume made periods a hot-button topic. A new generation is taking up the fight

Fifty-three years after the publication of Blume’s ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,’ the fight to destigmatize menstruation continues in film and TV.

April 21, 2023

She tries out temple to the delight of Sylvia, as well as a Southern Baptist church, a Protestant Christmas Eve Mass and even dabbles in Catholic confession. All the while, she chats with God about her innermost thoughts and feelings, processing the complexities of her social and family life. Whether or not she believes, Margaret’s “God” is a confidant and friend that exists outside the power struggles and religious divisions that have shaped her family life for better or for worse.

Fremon Craig brings a fluidity and easy rhythm to the film, which is highly specific to its 1970 setting but fresh and contemporary too. It remains true to the book but also highlights that so many of these questions and issues remain the same, five decades later.

Steve Saklad’s rich and detailed production design immerses us in this world, bursting with macramé and houseplants and tapestries, but it also tells a story in the Teenage Softies sanitary napkins or the disastrous living room that Barbara stalls in furnishing.

And the people populating this film make it beautifully real and moving.

Fortson brings Margaret’s tweenage anxiety to vivid life as she struggles to figure out who and how she is in the world. Graham is hilarious and heartbreaking as the ostensible antagonist, her outsize bravura punctured by a wrenching moment of true vulnerability. As Margaret’s loving but frazzled parents, McAdams and Safdie are remarkably sincere, discrete characters in their own right.

Review: The irrepressible writer shows why she’s the GOAT of YA lit in ‘Judy Blume Forever’

This touching nonfiction film, featuring interviews with Blume and famous fans such as Lena Dunham and Molly Ringwald, offers a comprehensive look at the beloved author’s enduring popularity.

Fremon Craig updates Blume’s classic text while maintaining the authenticity and intimacy with which so many readers connected. She draws out themes that feel as trenchant as ever, especially the essential truth that bodies, in all their mysterious and unruly ways, cannot be controlled, not by ourselves and not by others. Our bodies — ourselves — are ours alone, as are our actions, our lives and our stories. “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” proves to be a powerful and moving reminder of this crucial life lesson that can be all too easy to forget.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’

Rated: PG-13, for thematic material involving sexual education and some suggestive material Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes Playing: Starts April 28 in general release

Watch L.A. Times Today at 7 p.m. on Spectrum News 1 on Channel 1 or live stream on the Spectrum News App. Palos Verdes Peninsula and Orange County viewers can watch on Cox Systems on channel 99.

More to Read

In a career of remarkable versatility, Maggie Smith revealed theatricality to be a mode of existence

Sept. 27, 2024

The 8 best movies (and one TV show) we saw at the Toronto International Film Festival

Sept. 12, 2024

The tale of two women confronting crime in San Francisco, 80 years apart

May 24, 2024

Only good movies

Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Review: A family of misfits tests the spirit of charity in ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’

Nov. 8, 2024

After controversial snub, ‘Piano Lesson’ returns Danielle Deadwyler to Oscar race

Nov. 7, 2024

Review: In ‘Heretic,’ an affable predator meets his match: Mormon missionaries

How powerful women in history informed Olivia Williams’ role in ‘Dune: Prophecy’

Most read in movies.

Steve McQueen on making WWII personal with ‘Blitz’: ‘It’s about us fighting ourselves’

Oct. 24, 2024

Reconsidering Daniel Craig, plus the week’s best movies in L.A.

The trans ‘Will & Grace’ is here, and it’s a Netflix road movie starring Will Ferrell

Sept. 23, 2024

Tyrese Gibson says ‘arrest’ after being found in contempt of court was ‘very traumatic’

Sept. 11, 2024

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 93% Heretic Link to Heretic
• 93% Small Things Like These Link to Small Things Like These
• 82% Bird Link to Bird

New TV Tonight

• 100% Like Water for Chocolate: Season 1
• 77% Citadel: Honey Bunny: Season 1
• 100% Until I Kill You: Season 1
• 100% Outer Banks: Season 4
• 100% Arcane: League of Legends: Season 2
• -- Inspector Ellis: Season 1
• -- Game Changers: Season 1
• -- Eat, Slay, Love: Season 1
• -- Countdown: Paul vs Tyson: Season 1
• -- Bank Under Siege: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 89% The Day of the Jackal: Season 1
• 95% The Penguin: Season 1
• 94% The Diplomat: Season 2
• 83% Agatha All Along: Season 1
• 77% Disclaimer: Season 1
• 100% Lioness: Season 2
• -- Don't Come Home: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 90% Hysteria!: Season 1 Link to Hysteria!: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Best TV Series on Disney+ (November 2024)

100 Best Movies on Disney+ (November 2024)

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming.

Awards Tour

Nosferatu First Reactions: A Devilishly Seductive, Deeply Chilling Horror Masterpiece

TV Premiere Dates 2024

• Trending on RT
• Wicked Livestream
• Holiday Programming Guide
• Wicked Social Reactions
• Verified Hot Movies

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Reviews

I think that–just as Blume’s book deeply moved me when I read it last year, and impacted thousands before me–this kindness and open-mindedness in Craig’s adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret will also resonate across generations.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 31, 2024

Its impeccable filmmaking and hilarious entertainment factor are topped only by its remarkable lack of cynicism and boundless love for the characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 19, 2024

“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” never villainizes its characters because director and writer Kelly Fremon Craig avoids pat tropes.

Full Review | May 25, 2024

A wonderfully sweet adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret delves into girlhood—with its epic firsts, discoveries, and lingering magic of childhood wonder...

Full Review | Apr 19, 2024

Never saccharine or contrived, it shows that life can be challenging, no matter what one’s age, but that it can still be good.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 16, 2024

In many ways, "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret" works as a funny B-side to the fanaticism suffered by the Lisbon sisters, the victims of Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Feb 27, 2024

What the film does well is to establish that, in the absence of larger problems, anxiety is refocused on smaller ones.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 12, 2024

Kelly Fremon Craig ('The Edge of Seventeen') was inarguably the right choice to adapt and direct.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 13, 2024

Kelly Fremon Craig's follow-up to her similarly exceptional The Edge of Seventeen.

Full Review | Jan 4, 2024

There are so many beautiful questions put underneath the cinematic microscope [in 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.'], and director Kelly Fremon Craig makes it all feel so natural and special.

Full Review | Jan 3, 2024

It’s a film that finds universality in specificity, and not just its perfect replication of ’70s-era fashion, furniture, and cars.

It’s a deeply humanist film that quietly earns your affection.

Full Review | Dec 28, 2023

Its refusal to shy away from sensitive subject matters, coupled with brilliant performances from the lead cast, and a meticulously crafted script, results in a story that not only entertains with astute humor but also resonates on a deeply personal level.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Dec 22, 2023

The resulting adaptation is a tender window into girlhood and family that slightly expands the scope of its source text without sacrificing any of its wisdom.

Full Review | Dec 22, 2023

Judy Blume’s landmark YA classic makes it to the screen five decades later, still packed with laughs and poignance and bitter truths and the enduring embarrassments of adolescence.

Full Review | Dec 20, 2023

Performances are all solid, the direction never draws attention to itself, and you end up relating and empathising with all the characters (especially, and logically, Margaret). Full review in Spanish.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 15, 2023

A great coming of age comedy, for a change.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Dec 10, 2023

[McAdams] is outstanding as a woman struggling to find her own identity, while her daughter attempts to establish hers.

Full Review | Nov 22, 2023

Fremon Craig opts for warmth and frankness...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2023

Not as deep or emotionally resonant as I expected and the interfaith aspect isn't explored well, but there are plenty of things this coming-of-age film does right. Fortson is wonderful in the title role.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 13, 2023

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Eleven-year-old Margaret moves from the city to the suburbs and starts to contemplate everything about life, friendship and adolescence. She relies on her mother, Barbara, who offers loving ... Read all Eleven-year-old Margaret moves from the city to the suburbs and starts to contemplate everything about life, friendship and adolescence. She relies on her mother, Barbara, who offers loving support, and her grandmother, Sylvia. Eleven-year-old Margaret moves from the city to the suburbs and starts to contemplate everything about life, friendship and adolescence. She relies on her mother, Barbara, who offers loving support, and her grandmother, Sylvia.

• Kelly Fremon Craig
• Abby Ryder Fortson
• Rachel McAdams
• Kathy Bates
• 120 User reviews
• 136 Critic reviews
• 84 Metascore
• 26 wins & 82 nominations

Top cast 99+

• Margaret Simon

• Barbara Simon

• Sylvia Simon

• Nancy Wheeler

• Janie Loomis
• (as Amari Price)

• Gretchen Potter
• (as Katherine Kupferer)

• Mrs. Jan Wheeler

• Moose Freed

• Evan Wheeler
• (as Landon Baxter)
• Mamma Bunny

• (as Olivia Frances Williams)
• (as Michael Platarote)

• Mr. Benedict

• Norman Fisher
• Philip Leroy
• (as Zackary Brooks)
• Freddy Barnett
• (as JeCobi Swain)

• Laura Danker
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia Judy Blume , the author of the source novel, has a walk-on role as a woman walking a dog.
• Goofs In the synagogue, they are using the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly's Siddur Lev Shalem prayer book. It was published in 2016. The cantor is a woman, but females weren't ordained as cantors until 1975 for Reform and 1987 for Conservative.

Margaret : I immediately wanted to take it off.

Barbara Simon : Yeah. Welcome to womanhood.

• Crazy credits Fans of "The Simpsons" especially will note the Gracie Films logo at the beginning of the film, used at the end of episodes of the aforementioned television show. Gracie Films is an American film and television production company, founded by James L. Brooks in 1986 and named for comedian Gracie Allen, formerly wife and professional partner of George Burns. James Brooks is also a producer of the film. Among other shows and movies, Gracie Films is responsible for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970-77), "Jerry McGuire" (1996), and "As Good as it Gets" (1997).
• Alternate versions The version of the film shown at advanced screenings featured a "Margaret Moments" segment prior to the film playing, which features women recounting their memories which are relatable to the characters/situations of the original book. Marge Simpson appears during this segment, likely because James L. Brooks/Gracie Films produced the film.
• Connections Featured in 60 Minutes: Prince Harry/A Hans Zimmer Score (2023)
• Soundtracks Birds of a Feather Written by Joe South Performed by Paul Revere & The Raiders Courtesy of Columbia Records By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User reviews 120

As perfect an adaptation as you could want..

• JohnDeSando
• Apr 28, 2023
• How long is Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.? Powered by Alexa
• April 28, 2023 (United States)
• United States
• ¿Estás Ahí, Dios? Soy Yo, Margaret
• Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
• Gracie Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $30,000,000 (estimated)
• $20,372,406
• Apr 30, 2023
• $21,464,043
• Runtime 1 hour 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Review

19 May 2023

Are You There God? It&#8217;s Me, Margaret

Judy Blume’s pre-teen bible about an 11-year-old girl praying to hit puberty has proven a beacon of solace for girls (and often boys) across generations. Its enduring power lies in its confused protagonist, caught in the slipstream of her childhood, entangled in family politics and in a turbulent relationship with God.

It’s a tough task to adapt such beloved — some might even say sacred — source material, published some 50 years ago. Yet writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig , whose last film The Edge Of Seventeen serves as a compassionate big sister to Margaret , makes light work of the challenge. By mining the timeless troubles of a girl wishing away her youth and yet unprepared for the perils of growing up, Fremon Craig delivers a film of disarming vulnerability and complexity.

Like the book, Margaret is so much more than a coming-of-age story for children.

At its epicentre, Abby Ryder Fortson plays a shaken-up bottle of angst ready to pop, her performance raw and expressive without becoming excessive, which, given the overwhelming drama dominating her short life, is no small feat. The film begins with Margaret and parents Barbara ( Rachel McAdams ) and Herb ( Benny Safdie ) upping sticks and leaving behind grandmother Sylvia ( Kathy Bates ), who has an unshakable bond with her granddaughter. After being instantly recruited into a new friendship group by a forthright neighbourhood peer, Margaret must now worry about boys and bras on top of desperately missing Sylvia, while wrestling with the mounting problems caused by her parents’ different religious backgrounds (Barbara was raised Christian, Herb is Jewish).

The supporting cast are boundlessly joyful to behold. Bates is a firecracker and makes for a natural companion to Ryder Fortson (a moment of unbridled, mischievous happiness between the pair after a Broadway show is one of the film’s highlights). Safdie, whose career has pivoted wondrously between scuzzy indie filmmaker and character actor, is a certified charmer, his delightful oddball energy bouncing off McAdams’ more grounded presence.

Yet McAdams is the strongest hand. Margaret’s new school and a personal assignment on religion put new pressures on Barbara — she has “harried mom” problems, sure, but is also wrestling with a painful past — and the film shines when the actor’s gentle, emotionally poignant performance takes centre stage. It positively soars when she’s with Ryder Fortson, as mother and daughter wrestle with issues of right and wrong. All the while, Fremon Craig keeps the tone sweet and nuanced with bursts of comic relief, without ever straying into mawkishness.

Like the book, Margaret is so much more than a coming-of-age story for children. The relationships coursing through it make it a drama brimming with humour, vitality and empathy. The setbacks — from a nasty comment at school to Sylvia’s new loneliness — are heartbreaking, the wins moments of communal celebration. Margaret’s world may be small, but through Fremon Craig’s faithful adaptation, her journey through it leaves a mighty impact.

Related Articles

Movies | 12 07 2023

Movies | 10 05 2023

Movies | 13 04 2023

Movies | 12 04 2023

Movies | 12 01 2023