20 Best Movies Of 2023
19. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
Adapting a novel as forthright and intimate as Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret was never going to be an easy task, its personal tale of teenage woes a prickly topic that could have felt manipulative or outright insensitive in the wrong hands.
Thankfully, under the watchful eye of director Kelly Fremon Craig, It's Me, Margaret strikes the perfect chord between profundity and amusement, following Margaret (a revelatory Abby Ryder Fortson) as she tackles her uncertain faith, puberty, and rocky friendships after her family relocate to a new state.
Earnest and refreshingly frank, Craig's follow-up to her previous hit The Edge of Seventeen soars with a compassionate cast - including Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates - and authenticity, travailing the many pangs of youthful discord with a hopeful message and empathetic honesty.