My Dead Friend Zoe
VA counselor Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman) is frustrated by his inability to get U.S. Afghanistan Army veteran Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green, TV's 'The Walking Dead') to open up in his group sessions, something she must do under a court order regarding a near-fatal work accident. But Merit has been isolated from the world because of the unseen-to-everyone-but-her presence of her old army buddy in "My Dead Friend Zoe."
Laura's Review: B-
Writer/director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes uses his personal experience as an army veteran in his feature directorial debut which explores themes of loss, guilt and the disconnect between military and civilian ethos. The filmmaker has taken on a lot in a plot that involves PTSD, repatriation, friends, family, romance and elder care, a combination that doesn't always mesh smoothly or consistently, but he cast his lead well, Martin-Green, known mostly for television roles, shouldering the film handily.
Back at home, living in an apartment in Oregon, Merit tries to clear her head by running, but Zoe's (Natalie Morales, "Language Lessons") always hanging out to push her buttons. In flashbacks we see just how tight the two were, singing along to Merit's iPOD, Zoe the irreverent wiseass to Merit's more grounded achiever. The more we get to know these two, we can see that there is a class conflict, Zoe resenting Merit's collegiate aspirations while Merit discourages Zoe from reenlisting, urging her friend to aim higher. Meanwhile, in the present, Merit avoids her mother's (Gloria Reuben, "Lincoln") exhortations to check in on her grandfather (Ed Harris, "Love Lies Bleeding") at his lakeside cabin by citing her therapy sessions, eventually avoiding those by doing just that. Dale, a retired Lt. Col. who served in Vietnam, has recently lost his wife, is fiercely independent, but is showing early signs of Alzheimer's.
The only thing we've seen Merit say at all in Dr. Cole's group is that it was her grandfather standing tall during the Army song at his local 4th of July celebration that inspired her to enlist, but his old-fashioned 'pull yourself up from your bootstraps' mentality looks at PTSD as a weakness and initially they clash while Zoe makes pithy comments and admires the handsome surroundings with a note of underlying sarcasm. Merit will also have a confrontational 'meet cute' with Alex (Utkarsh Ambudkar, "Free Guy," "Blindspotting") at the local cemetery, only to discover he manages the assisted living facility her mother has chosen for grandad. But when Merit takes her grandfather to that 4th of July event, Alex inadvertently spills the beans, causing the now irate veteran to go AWOL and Merit's mother to arrive, placing all the blame on her daughter. The stress comes to a head with the revelation of what really happened to Zoe, Hausmann-Stokes' sleight of hand having set up different expectations, and Merit's failure to help her friend becomes the catalyst for a familial solution.
So Hausmann-Stokes has handed his main character six different relationships and only two of the really work and neither one is with Zoe, which should be the most well-defined. Martin-Green navigates the shifting moods Harris injects into his character with intelligent empathy while his response to her gradually thaws with shared experience. Ambudkar lends the film some much needed charm and he and Martin-Green's burgeoning relationship adds a dose of uplift to the film. But Zoe's character is underwritten, more Merit's guilt than flesh and blood friend, and Morales' vacillation between caustic humor and resentment eventually becomes somewhat off putting. Worse is Reubens, a blame-gaming pill of a maternal figure. Morgan Freeman's Cole is mere plot device, inserted occasionally (and awkwardly) so as not to be forgotten, then called into duty as framing device.
"My Dead Friend Zoe" does have its heart in the right place and calls attention to a hugely important issue, but it only works in fits and starts. Hausmann-Stokes maintains interest with shifting locations, Afghanistan suggested with focused exteriors, Oregon widening the range from institutional buildings to Zoe's modest apartment and her grandfather's 'Martha Stewart rustic' sprawling lakeside cabin.
Robin's Review: C+
Briarcliff Entertainment releases "My Dead Friend Zoe" in theaters on 2/28/25.
