One of the best films I’ve seen in while, better in my opinion than most of the Oscar contenders of this past year, is My Dead Friend Zoe, newly released. Christy Lemire, rogerebert.com: “Using sly humor to explore a serious issue, ‘My Dead Friend Zoe’ has the potential to reach a broad audience on the topic of veterans’ mental health—particularly at a time when the current presidential administration is decimating the care our service men and women deserve. This is a persuasive piece of advocacy filmmaking, tucked inside a playful and profane comedy about female friendship. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry.”
Interestingly, creator/director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes based his script on experiences with his own Army platoonmates in Iraq, Luis Ramirez-Jimenez and Boris Ventura. So why did he write about two women instead? His explanation (Variety): “For starters, it’s so personal, I just needed some separation from the main characters. And I’ve done so much work for the VA over the past 10 years, PSAs. One mental health campaign in particular, I traveled the country and interviewed for 400-500 veterans, and I met so many incredible women veterans and heard their stories. And I was so humbled. So it was just no question. And we never get to see women in roles like this, and why would you not do that?”
The two lead female characters, Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Zoe (Natalie Morales), are also both of color. Merit, post-Afghanistan, is supposed to not only be attending her support group led by the VA’s stern but caring Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman) but also truly participating, not just sitting there next to ghost Zoe, who mocks the process while others painfully address their own PTSD.
You’ll continually wonder, as the film continues, what’s really happening inside Merit’s head. And what the hell actually happened to Zoe? Intermittent flashbacks, meanwhile, will provide some needed background regarding their friendship during their shared war service.
Rather than face her feelings, Merit (in her current life) finds an escape from group meetings by succumbing to her mother’s (Gloria Reuben) wishes that she look after her grandfather, Clay (Ed Harris), who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer‘s. Hallucinated Zoe accompanies her as they take up residence at Clay’s remote cabin. He’s a fellow veteran (Vietnam), by the way.
Peter Travers, ABC: “The scenes Martin-Green shares with Harris, of the ‘suck-it-up’ school of processing grief, and Morales, irreverent and irresistible as Zoe’s livewire ghost, spark with an energy that also underlines how easy it is to leave the mental challenges of returning soldiers unaddressed.”
One potentially bright spot for Merit is when she bumps into a stranger, Alex (Utkarsh Ambudkar). They clearly share an attraction.
Meanwhile, Dr. Coles attempts to reach Merit, imploring her to complete her group therapy process, mandated because of a violent incident. Will she go back and do the work? If not, she could face jail time.
The trailer for My Dead Friend Zoe:
Selected Reviews
Bob Strauss, San Francisco Chronicle: “The feature-directing debut of Bronze Star Army veteran Kyle Hausmann-Stokes has fun with such traditionally unfunny subjects as Alzheimer’s, PTSD and crippling guilt while never underplaying the seriousness of those conditions. It’s the rare, slightly supernatural entertainment that acknowledges processing loss and grief is a tall order for even the toughest souls.”
Peter Travers, ABC: “…(T)he filmmaker has filled his cast with actors who have actually served and know firsthand about the wounds you can’t see on the surface.”
Valerie Complex, Deadline: “The film’s exploration of Merit’s psyche is both nuanced and compelling, offering a window into the soul of a woman caught between the past and the present, duty and family, survival and recovery.”
