Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: A Faithful Retelling Of A Classic

The market has changed drastically when it comes to how viewers consume visual media. When it comes to adapting novels, a fair amount of the time it benefits the narrative to do them as a limited series on streaming in some form instead of as it allows for the story to pace out in a way that a feature film does not. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
takes the story that has become one of the seminal works of American literature and does a fairly straight adaptation, however the narrative is definitely better served as a miniseries so some of the relationships have room to be fully explored for maximum emotional impact.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret follows Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) as her life is uprooted just as she is entering sixth grade. Her family moves to New Jersey and she has to go to a new school and make new friends, all while reckoning with her discovery of both herself as a person and exploring her spirituality through religion. Benny Safdie, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Echo Kellum also star.

The movie does a good amount of technical things right. Kathy Bates and Rachel McAdams automatically elevate whatever material they are in so bringing them in for the major roles of Sylvia and Barbara respectively brings a certain amount of quality to the movie. Abby Ryder Fortson is a bit of a discovery and she could have quite a career ahead of her based on her performance in this movie which could elevate her above a smaller actress for bit parts (like Cassie in the first two Ant-Man movies). Hans Zimmer’s score is great and so uncharacteristic in tone for him to the point that when his name goes by in the credits it is a genuine surprise. The costuming and production design are all beautiful and authentic, making the era feel genuine.

The only issue with the movie is that the pacing feels a little off. The movie clocks in at just under two hours so there is space to expand which would have allowed for more time to better lay out the characters. For example, (and technically spoilers but the book is over 50 years old) at one point Margaret has to reckon with the fact that she was bullying another girl over aspects that the other girl had no control over, and then voice over tells the viewer that Margaret may not want to be friends with her friend group because of what they turned her into but that never has the chance to be explored and the next time Margaret interacts with this group, they’re back to being friends like nothing happened. The same goes for her exploration of religion so when the movie reaches her climactic proclamation, it does not feel like a part of her character progression and rather as something that needs to happen because it does in the book and it finishes the arc of the character. The movie would have been better as a four-episode miniseries on a streamer so it really gets the chance to expand the characters and let them breathe a bit.

At the end of the day Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a solid theatrical adaptation of the iconic book that maintains all the important aspects of the source material. While the movie may feel rushed, it still does enough to let the viewer understand the characters the amount required to enjoy the movie. It is worth a watch, especially considering how relevant this film is to the world now as it was in 1970.

Final Rating: 8/10

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret opens theatrically on April 28th, 2023.