Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Benny Safdie, Kathy Bates
Controversial on its 1970 publication for its candid study of then-taboo subjects including menstruation and teen sexuality, Judy Blume’s classic young adult novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a timeless coming-of-age story that explores teenage girlhood with insight, humour, and empathy.
In Kelly Fremon Craig’s (The Edge of Seventeen) big-screen adaptation, 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is uprooted from her life in New York for the suburbs of New Jersey, where she navigates the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty alongside making friends at her new school and evolving her ideas about religion amidst her parents’ interfaith marriage. She relies on her mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), who is also struggling to adjust to life outside the city, and her adoring grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates), who isn’t happy they moved away – and likes to remind them every chance she gets.
Co-produced by Blume, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret promises to be a compelling, big-hearted, frank and funny adaptation of one of her most successful (and most often banned) books that should appeal to both newcomers to her work and nostalgic readers alike.