Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)
Cute movie, very well done and effective. Well, it is a bit scheming too, adding on the second plan some offence towards the religions which almost spoiled the film. Anyway, the main character (Margaret) is quite enjoyable to watch.
+
72/100
I really liked this picture, although I was hesitant about watching it. Some commentary:
This is a cute, witty, delightful and touching picture that will likely make a star out of the actress who played the title character Margaret, 15-year-old Abby Ryder Forston. Margaret is a young lass who, along with a few of her school friends, is facing the start of the transition to puberty, with all of its angst, excitement, and physical changes that occur with these 11 or 12 year-old girls.
Margaret is crushed when her family decides to move from Manhattan to a New Jersey suburb because she’ll lose all of her friends at that critical age. But at the new suburban high school she soon falls in with a trio of female classmates, all of whom are full of wonderment and anxiety about the physical transformation that they are about to undergo, along with their attraction to, but shyness around boys.
At one point Margaret criticizes Laura (Isol Young) --an unusually taller and physically more developed classmate-- for reportedly letting boys “feel her up”. This shames the girl, who later tells Margaret that Margaret couldn’t possibly understand how awkward and embarrassing it is for Laura to be shunned because she’s so different physically than most of the other girls. Margaret later realizes how wrong she was to criticize Laura, and that she can relate to Laura’s isolation. Margaret searches her out and pulls her into Margaret’s group.
The important subtext is Margaret’s tendency to pray to God for relief and guidance despite her confusion about what God is, all the while trying to decide to which if any religion she wants to adhere. Her father is Jewish and her mother is lightly Christian, but from strong and determined Christian parents. Margaret tries them all, even though she’s seriously pressed by her father’s (Benny Safdie) mother (Kathy Bates) to become Jewish.
Her mother (Rachel McAdams) does not encourage Margaret towards any religion at all, and she and her husband are still miffed that her mother’s folks more or less cut off relations with her because she married a Jewish man. That circumstance later comes to a head when they all squabble over which religion Margaret should follow. In the end, Margaret goes her own way.
The standout performance of course is Abby Ryder Forston’s portrayal of Margaret. Her friend Nancy (Elle Graham) is likewise enjoyable. Rachel McAdams as the mother is almost too strong a presence, both in beauty and allure. One not quite so beautiful would have been a little more fitting. Benny Safdie is almost a tack-on as the father. Possibly selected because they needed someone who looks stereotypically Jewish (Salfdie is Jewish). There isn’t a lot of chemistry between McAdams and Safdie, but their relationship is only an incidental part of the story. Kathy Bates turns in another perfect performance as Margaret’s attractive and fun grandmother.
It’s refreshing to see a successful and well donepicture made like they used to be. Despite the subject matter, they avoid low humor along with sexual displays and foul language. The screenplay by director/writer Kelly Craigperfectly relates all the travails, excitement and wonderment typically experienced by 11 or 12 year-old girls as they start the journey into sexual maturity.
Doc’s rating: 9/10
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