13-year-old Margaret navigates her new life in the suburbs, the changes in her life and in her body, while being in great questioning about religion. All while regularly addressing God, in the hope of receiving a little help when everything is turned upside down in his daily life.
Adapted from the book of the same title, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is an unassuming film that brings to life the Judy Blume characters beloved by many (especially American) readers for decades. The characters (especially Margaret’s), the story, the message: everything is touching in this feature film where nothing thrilling happens, but which warms the heart. We get attached to Margaret, we want to see her flourish, we like to know her moods.
It is a story of adolescence, the quest of a young girl who grows up and searches for herself. If the screenplay by Kelly Fremon Craig does not reinvent the genre of the initiation story, it is still very pleasant. The young Abby Ryder Fortson (Margaret) is exceptional, while Rachel McAdams, who plays her mother, is, as always, very convincing in her role.
Because the story also tells of the challenges faced by Margaret’s parents, which affect her indirectly, we also fall into more serious subjects. The young girl is in search of her identity, particularly (but not only) with regard to religion. Her parents were raised in different cultures, which caused a lot of drama in their family. Margaret learns of this and realizes what religion can do to people: tear them apart, tear them apart, hurt them. Through this, she tries to understand what suits her. Not everyone will be affected by these thoughts. But seeing the teenager on her way, whether we find ourselves there or not, has something endearing.
We laughed. No, we also shed a little tear. Sometimes funny, other times very touching, the film will have nothing to please those who like action or great drama or even intense love stories. It’s all about levity in Are You There God?. And this is very well so. We need stories like this.
