‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’ Movie Trailer Keeps Faith With the Book

Every preteen who read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret probably remembers the “We must, we must, we must increase our bust” chant, which shows up in the movie trailer.
YouTube video screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNET

The book that taught many Generation Xers about periods and the infamous “We must, we must, we must increase our bust” chant has become a movie. Judy Blume’s 1970 young-adult novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, released its first trailer on Thursday, and the brief look shows that the film is staying pretty faithful to the book.

Sixth-grader Margaret Simon deals with growing up without religion due to her parents’ mixed-faith marriage, and stumbles into puberty, learning about menstruation, breast development and other puberty woes. 

The trailer dives right into those memorable moments, including a secret club that requires the undeveloped Margaret to wear a bra. Another scene reveals the embarrassment of buying sanitary pads from a male clerk. And the trailer even includes the infamous “We must, we must, we must increase our bust” chant and accompanying exercise. (Spoiler for kids of today who might get the same idea we ’70s kids had: This doesn’t work.)

Abby Ryder Fortson, 14, plays Margaret. Kathy Bates plays her grandma, and Rachel McAdams plays her mother, with Benny Safdie playing her father. Fans of the book will likely be happy to see that the movie has kept the ’70s setting, with all its charms and challenges. The trailer even keeps in time musically, as it’s set to George Harrison’s 1970 hit What Is Life?

Author Judy Blume told Today that the film adaptation is “wonderful,” adding, “How many authors can say, ‘I think that movie is better than the book’?”

The film is set to hit theaters April 28, 2023, a delay from its original fall 2022 release date.

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