Organised religion has always been a tough sell to me, but I must say I am somewhat fascinated by it. Growing up I had one side of the family that picked and chose passages from the Bible that were convenient to their prejudices, and the other side of the family seemingly had no religious affiliations.
I grew up knowing, mostly because of how one side of the family handled religion, that I didn’t believe in a God, but I did enjoy studying them and speaking to people about their beliefs.
So I knew that Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was going to appeal to me on a personal level, and scratch that extremely niche itch I have for putting religion under the microscope, but I didn’t expect to walk away from the film feeling as warm and positive inside as I did.
Margaret (Abby Ryder Forston) is eleven years old, and the daughter of a Christian mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), and a Jewish father, Herb (Benny Safdie), though she herself has no religious affiliations. The family have just moved out of New York City and across the river to New Jersey, leaving Margaret’s paternal grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates) behind.
It’s here where Margaret faces a crisis of religion, all whilst needing to make new friends and navigate the early stages of puberty.
I grew up knowing, mostly because of how one side of the family handled religion, that I didn’t believe in a God, but I did enjoy studying them and speaking to people about their beliefs.
So I knew that Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was going to appeal to me on a personal level, and scratch that extremely niche itch I have for putting religion under the microscope, but I didn’t expect to walk away from the film feeling as warm and positive inside as I did.
Margaret (Abby Ryder Forston) is eleven years old, and the daughter of a Christian mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), and a Jewish father, Herb (Benny Safdie), though she herself has no religious affiliations. The family have just moved out of New York City and across the river to New Jersey, leaving Margaret’s paternal grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates) behind.
It’s here where Margaret faces a crisis of religion, all whilst needing to make new friends and navigate the early stages of puberty.
The film is really funny, and it does so whilst handling some pretty sensitive issues, and it never relies on crude, absurd, or gross out humour. This is a family friendly affair, it does carry a PG rating after all, and I really enjoyed the way that writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig navigated it all.
Margaret finds herself inducted into a secret club led by her neighbour Nancy Wheeler (not that one) (Elle Graham) where the girls write diaries about boys they like, race to be the first one to have a period, and perform exercises to increase their breast size so they can grow into their bra’s.
It’s so refreshing to see a comedy address teenage girl problems in a way that teenage girls would actually handle such problems. It’s totally innocent, and completely hilarious.
The religious aspect is handled by the way of Margaret being set an essay by her teacher, Mr. Benedict (Echo Kellum). She needs to write a paper on religion by the end of the school year, and so Margaret exposes herself to Judaism and various branches of Christianity to try and find God, all whilst communicating to them through prayer in a deeply funny inner monologue.
Margaret is exposed to the best and worst sides of religion and what people do in the name of it, particularly the way it has torn her family apart.
The 1970’s aesthetic looks great here. I loved the costumes and the set design, plus the punctuation of licensed songs like Dusty Springfield’s Son of a Preacher Man, and Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours give the film a bit of a bounce that it grooves along to.
McAdams is also really brilliant. I loved her in this film, and the chemistry she has with Forston is the heart and soul of the film. Forston’s really funny, and I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes from here.
I really do feel that Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is the kind of film young people really should be exposed to. It’s the perfect film for a family night in, and it handles a lot of complicated themes in an accessible and positive way.
I walked out with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, and that’s the first ‘feel good film’ that’s genuinely made me feel good in years. I’ll definitely be picking this up on Blu-Ray later in the year.
Margaret finds herself inducted into a secret club led by her neighbour Nancy Wheeler (not that one) (Elle Graham) where the girls write diaries about boys they like, race to be the first one to have a period, and perform exercises to increase their breast size so they can grow into their bra’s.
It’s so refreshing to see a comedy address teenage girl problems in a way that teenage girls would actually handle such problems. It’s totally innocent, and completely hilarious.
The religious aspect is handled by the way of Margaret being set an essay by her teacher, Mr. Benedict (Echo Kellum). She needs to write a paper on religion by the end of the school year, and so Margaret exposes herself to Judaism and various branches of Christianity to try and find God, all whilst communicating to them through prayer in a deeply funny inner monologue.
Margaret is exposed to the best and worst sides of religion and what people do in the name of it, particularly the way it has torn her family apart.
The 1970’s aesthetic looks great here. I loved the costumes and the set design, plus the punctuation of licensed songs like Dusty Springfield’s Son of a Preacher Man, and Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours give the film a bit of a bounce that it grooves along to.
McAdams is also really brilliant. I loved her in this film, and the chemistry she has with Forston is the heart and soul of the film. Forston’s really funny, and I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes from here.
I really do feel that Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is the kind of film young people really should be exposed to. It’s the perfect film for a family night in, and it handles a lot of complicated themes in an accessible and positive way.
I walked out with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, and that’s the first ‘feel good film’ that’s genuinely made me feel good in years. I’ll definitely be picking this up on Blu-Ray later in the year.