My Dead Friend Zoe Movie Review

In his directorial debut, writer/director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes uses two females, one Cuban and one African American, to tell what he personally experienced during the war in Afghanistan.
Here, we meet Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) an Army Veteran, who has a distressing case of survivor’s guilt. She is still struggling with grief and is having a difficult time adjusting to life, having come through the war unscathed, physically, that is when so many friends have lost their lives. We hear much about the war and Merit’s problems from her Army bestie, Zoe. Zoe (Natalie Morales) is no longer with us. How this is dealt with is skillful and touching.

Zoe wants to help her friend maneuver and pilot her way through what’s ahead in life and will be there whether Merit wants her to be or not. Merit finds she has to go to therapy to move on. There’s a person she needs to talk about… not an incident, a person.

Counselor Dr. Cole (Freeman) attempts to get her to open up, but she clams up instead and moves away from him the more he tries. He’s unaware of how haunted she is. He may know something about what she’s experiencing as far as mental anguish is concerned, but not to this degree. Zoe is literally there, tormenting Merit. Sometimes, this is by reminding her what they’ve been through, sometimes by commenting on Merit’s current situation. Merit is trying to navigate anything but calm and still waters while, at the same time, not sure of which to trust, the easy or hard way through life.

As we see her locking horns with PTSD, her grandfather, Dale, played by Ed Harris, is fighting a battle with the early stages of Alzheimer’s. He’s primarily lucid, which is good since Merit has to watch him at his place by the lake. When she arrives, she and Zoe discover that he’s in worse shape than they thought. It’s through a conversation between Merit and Dale that she realizes how bad it was for Vietnam Vets who were spit on and called baby killers. People may not have understood why he was in the war, but he held his head high. It’s he who gave Merit the desire to enlist. He tells her that their wars were not the same, misunderstanding why his granddaughter’s war was essential to her, just as his fellow citizens did about the war he was sent into. There’s a very patriotic and loving moment at a Fourth of July picnic the two attend. Zoe keeps her distance, letting the two family members have their moment together.

There’s a love interest for Merit, Alex (Utkarsh Ambudkar), who provides a little comic relief outside of a bit of the dark humor Zoe’s character lends. He’s precisely what Merit needs now as she and her mother, played by ER’s Gloria Reuben, endure the pain of putting him into a home. Alex then accidentally releases that information to the one person who shouldn’t have heard… Dale.

The film is a lot. It’s beautifully made, the acting is spectacular, and the story itself is incredibly touching. Zoe’s character and why she exists are moving, and what you find out toward the end is difficult, considering how often it happens, but it isn’t talked about. There’s a lot of love in this movie. That is reason enough for you to see it this weekend if possible. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a tissue ready. Keep watching at the end… You will be bewildered by who some of the cast members are.