Moving house as a child can seem like the end of the world, and this coming-of-age dramedy available on Netflix portrays this feeling perfectly. And, with the Easter break finally upon us, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is the perfect way to kick back.
You might recognise the rather wordy title from Judy Blume’s beloved novel of the same name that hit the shelves in 1970. It follows 11-year-old Margaret (portrayed in the movie by Abby Ryder Fortson) as she is plucked from her life in New York to move to New Jersey, leaving her friends and grandmother (excellently played by Kathy Bates).
When her bold next door neighbour Nancy Wheeler (no relation to the Stranger Things character) invites her to join her top secret club, Margaret is thrust into a world of worrying about her chest growing and practising kissing on a bedframe.
The stress of tweendom is explored much less in coming-of-age films compared to the jump from adolescence to adulthood we see in movies such as Lady Bird or The Breakfast Club, so it’s refreshing to see this stage of life given the gravity it deserves.
Adapting such a classic story to the big screen must have been a daunting task for director Kelly Fremon Craig, but she is no stranger to creating a coming-of-age hit with her back catalogue including The Edge of Seventeen.
Even though the film is set in the seventies, most of the issues facing the young protagonist are still present for children today. The pressure to grow up quickly and find your place in society are all here.
The movie is also not afraid to address more complicated themes. For example, Margaret feels an intense need to decide what side of the fence she sits on in terms of her religion, as her father is Jewish and mother is Christian. This is explored with sensitivity and heart, where it could very easily have felt clumsy.
The Tomatometer over at Rotten Tomatoes is at a near-perfect 99 per cent, showing that critics very much enjoyed the coming-of-age release. Empire’s Beth Webb dubbed the film “a touching and tender adaptation that does justice to a book which means so much to so many”, and The Guardian called it “heart-stoppingly beautiful.”
Rated PG, this 2023 release is a heart-warming watch for all the family and is now available to stream on Netflix.
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