Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023) Review: A Teen Girl's Search for Identity Uncovers Deeper Questions About Faith

 

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret | 2023 | 1h 46m
Genre: Coming-of-Age, Comedy, Drama, Family | Country: United States
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig
Writers: Kelly Fremon Craig, Judy Blume
Cast: Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and others
IMDb: 7.3
My Rating: 8/10

Moving to a new town changes every aspect of Margaret's life. As she navigates friendship, puberty, family, and first love, she also begins a deeply personal journey to understand faith and discover what it truly means to believe.

Warning:

None.

What if growing up is not only about changes in our bodies and friendships, but also about finally asking questions that adults cannot answer for us?

That is what I found interesting about Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023). At first, the film looks like a simple coming-of-age story about a girl moving to a new town. But the more I watched, the more I felt that Margaret's story was really about something much bigger: friendship, puberty, family, love, and the difficult process of trying to understand what we believe.

Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is surprised when she learns that her family is moving shortly after she returns from summer camp. Her father has received a promotion, which means they have to leave their old home and move to New Jersey.

Margaret is understandably unhappy. She has to leave her friends behind, and she also feels sad about leaving her grandmother, who lives alone.

At first, the move seems like a terrible thing.

But Margaret quickly meets Nancy (Elle Graham), her new neighbor and classmate. Their friendship introduces Margaret to a completely different environment and gives her new experiences as she begins adjusting to her new life.

Nancy comes from a wealthy family and has a somewhat arrogant attitude, as though she knows exactly where she stands in the social hierarchy at school. She creates a secret group and invites Margaret to join.

Nancy is also fascinated by the signs of puberty and the changes that come with becoming a teenager. Margaret gradually becomes involved in that world too.

At the same time, Margaret begins another kind of search.

She starts wondering about God.

Her father and mother come from different religious backgrounds, but neither of them forces her to choose one religion. In one way, I think that gives Margaret freedom. But in another way, it also makes her search more difficult because she has to figure out what God means to her on her own.

Can Margaret get through her teenage years while finding her own understanding of life and faith?

What I like most about Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is how relatable its central theme can be, especially for teenagers going through puberty. The film is adapted from Judy Blume's novel, originally published in 1970, and the story feels very close to the kinds of questions young people naturally have while growing up.

Puberty can be an awkward period. Suddenly, friendships feel more complicated, our bodies begin to change, and we start becoming more aware of other people and how they see us.

Margaret experiences all of that while also trying to understand where she belongs.

I think that is what makes the film suitable for family viewing. The story does not present adolescence as something dramatic or extreme. Instead, it shows the small questions and experiences that gradually shape a young person's understanding of herself.

The story is systematic and easy to follow. The conflicts are also presented without becoming excessive, and the resolutions are generally satisfying. However, I do think some parts could have been developed more fully.

The conflict between Margaret's mother and her own parents does not really reach a clear resolution. There is also a misunderstanding between Margaret and her friends that seems to disappear suddenly without the characters fully resolving what happened.

Margaret's search for God also does not receive a definite conclusion.

At first, I wondered whether that made the story incomplete. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt that perhaps this uncertainty actually fits the subject. A teenager's search for identity, beliefs, and meaning is not something that can always be solved neatly within a few days.

Some questions simply take time.

The technical aspects are also handled well. The camera work, color composition, music, and sound effects all support the atmosphere of the film. The acting is also quite good.

My main criticism is the makeup and wardrobe. Since the story takes place in the 1970s, I expected the appearance of the characters to reflect the era more strongly. Some of the styling does not immediately give me the feeling that I am watching a story set in that period.

Even so, this does not prevent me from enjoying the film.

One of the scenes that stayed with me is when Margaret asks why she has never met her grandparents on her mother's side.

Her mother eventually explains that she has a difficult relationship with her parents, especially after they discovered that she was going to marry Margaret's father, who came from a different religion.

I really appreciate this scene because Margaret's mother does not simply tell her that the grandparents are “bad” or hide the painful details from her.

Instead, she answers Margaret's questions honestly.

That matters to me because Margaret is still young, but her mother trusts her enough to explain a complicated family situation. She does not make the decision for Margaret about what she should think. Margaret is allowed to listen, process the information, and make her own judgment.

I think that is an important part of growing up.

Children do not always need adults to give them a simple answer. Sometimes, they need adults to be honest enough to give them the information they need to understand the situation themselves.

The dialogue, “She is no religion until she decides,” also captures that idea well.

Margaret is given space to explore instead of being forced into a belief system before she is ready. For me, that makes her search for God feel more personal.

The film also reminded me that growing up is full of questions that do not always have immediate answers.

We may wonder who we are, what we believe, where we belong, whether our friendships are real, whether people like us, or what kind of person we want to become.

Adults sometimes expect teenagers to already understand themselves, but the truth is that adolescence is exactly the period when people are still learning.

Perhaps that is why I think Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023) works so well as a family film. It is light enough to enjoy, but it also opens conversations about puberty, family relationships, identity, and religion without making those subjects feel unnecessarily heavy.

Overall, I find the film enjoyable and meaningful, even though several conflicts could have been developed and resolved more strongly. The story is easy to follow, the performances are good, and there are many small lessons that can be taken from Margaret's journey.

For me, the biggest lesson is that growing up is not about having all the answers. Sometimes, it is about learning to ask the right questions and having enough freedom to discover the answers for ourselves.

And perhaps that is something worth remembering even after childhood is over: how many things in our lives do we truly believe because we have discovered them ourselves, and how many do we simply believe because someone else decided the answer for us?

(Aluna Uwie)

Previously published on Alunauwie.com.

"This article was originally written in Indonesian and has been adapted into English for international readers."