Friends, Boys, Religion, and Sixth Grade!

Emma’s Review: 5 stars 

Based off of the bestselling book by Judy Blume, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret is a coming-of-age movie at its finest. Set in the ‘70s, Margaret is an eleven-year-old who moved, with her mom and dad, from New York City to suburban New Jersey. Immediately, she meets Nancy, her next-door-neighbor, who invites Margaret into a secret club composed of two other girls, Gretchen and Janie. In the club, they make four rules that include everything from keeping a journal of all the boys they like to not wearing socks. As her year in sixth grade progresses, she struggles with both friends and boys – but also religion, meeting the demands of her family members, and balancing being popular with being kind. 

Starring Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates, it debuted on April 28, 2023, and was far from a disappointment. The movie has already scored a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8/10 on IMDb. Louis Moore, a critic for Rotten Tomatoes, described the adaptation as a “wholesome, perfectly cast film” which created a “timeless coming-of-age-story that brings Judy Blume’s classic book to life.” Another critic, Felix Vasquez Jr., simply described the film as “an absorbing, funny, and heartfelt coming–of–age tale.” 

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is the perfect film for those who wanted to get their period more than anything, like Margaret, but also for those who have a daughter starting a new school and join twenty different school committees, like Margaret’s Mom. If you’re looking for a real but heartfelt story, this movie is perfect for you. 

“We forget how much we wanted to rush to grow up, and also how, once it started happening, we weren’t sure how to adjust to this rattling new normal,” said Time Magazine, and this movie encompasses that feeling perfectly.