There are few novels as important or as timeless as Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Judy Blume’s classic is a realistic look at the trials and tribulations of a young girl having a crisis of mind, body, and faith, something readers didn’t even know they craved. Reading the novel for the first time since grade school, I was struck by how closely director Kelly Fremon Craig adheres to Margaret’s journey in the very first theatrical adaptation, besides adding some crucial focus on Margaret’s mother Barbara, played brilliantly by Rachel McAdams. The story is not painfully modernized and remains set in 1970, showing how, as always, the specific is universal.

Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) has only just returned to New York City from summer camp when she learns of dire news: her parents, Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and Herb (Benny Safdie), are making her move to New Jersey, leaving behind her beloved grandmother Sylvia (Kathy Bates). A new house, new school, and new friends await her, but Margaret has more on her mind than just what she sees in front of her. While her mother is Christian and her father is Jewish, Margaret hasn’t been raised as anything in particular, claiming that her parents want her to decide for herself when she grows up.

Of course, an eleven-year-old girl on the cusp of puberty is going to seek out a higher power to explain what is happening to her, so Margaret makes a habit of speaking to God when she’s alone. She doesn’t expect to hear anything back, but keeps it up and even attends synagogue with her grandma and church services with her friends. Margaret’s quest inspires some soul searching for her mother as well, as Margaret starts to interrogate why she’s never met her maternal grandparents. While this plot point is featured in the novel, Craig expands on the emotional aspects with McAdams, who gives a monologue explaining her estrangement (her Christian parents could not accept that she was marrying a Jew) that is possibly the finest performance of her career. While trying to be truthful with Margaret, she can’t hide her deep sadness from her daughter, who is learning all of this for the first time. It is the emotional high point of the film, with everything that the Simon family does after being informed by this conversation.

While the film never shies away from the heavy stuff, Margaret’s awkward journey into teenhood is filled with laughs and relatable faux pas. The kid actors feel like they’re having a blast, a crucial aspect for me to tolerate any child performance. Margaret never talks down to the kids who will hopefully make up the primary audience, presenting the scary changes of puberty as crazy as they feel and showing them they are not alone. Adults will love it too, but perhaps they’ll be happier to have gotten middle school over with.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
2023
Dir. Kelly Fremon Craig
111 min

Opens Friday, 4/28 @ Coolidge Corner Theatre and theaters everywhere