With a title like My Dead Friend Zoe, you know you’re setting the stage for a certain type of bring the tissues film. Suffice to say, I wasn’t exactly stoked to watch what I expected to be a lot of tears and emotional distress. Yes, Zoe has those brutal moments you expect from its title, but while that is all happening, something different, and better builds this little film into something more special than you’ll expect it to be. Must be that Army Strong, I guess.
The intro shows us the inseparable military friends, Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) and of course, Zoe (Natalie Morales). Flash forward, and Merit is still shooting the sh*t with Zoe…except that Zoe is now a ghost, a figment of Merit’s imagination. Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman) tries to get her to share in group, but Merit refuses, clearly anguished by what happened. She’s forced to deal with these feelings though when Merit’s busy working mother Kris (Gloria Reuben) sends Merit to babysit Merit’s grandpa, and vet himself Dale, who’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and starting to lose the ability to take care of himself.
For all the films made about being in the military and dealing with PTSD, few of those films are made by actual veterans. Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, the writer/director of this movie, is a vet himself, and that personal connection gives Zoe something to help it rise above the normal movies about military PTSD. This movie is walking slippery slopes everywhere: a “magical” ghost character, possibly manipulating the audience with really treacly breakdown scenes, on the nose flashbacks, Alzheimer’s turning into a plot device, group therapy breakthroughs. We’ve seen all of this before, and so has Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, both in reality and in movies. He performs magic, taking all these pitfalls and turning it into a perceptive recipe of what living with PTSD really feels like day to day. At the beginning of the movie, Merit seems…shaky, but kinda stable? While it’s strange she’s talking to her dead best friend, she’s taken comfort in the routines which help her get through the day. But the group therapy and her grandpa’s deterioration take those routines mostly away from her, forcing her to deal with what has become a crutch in her life. Merit would be fine for a while, and then have these moments that trigger memories that send her spiraling, sometimes for seconds, sometimes for hours, pressing the need for her to learn better ways to cope with her feelings. And that fun loving Zoe we see at the beginning? Turns out that attitude when the world needs more serious behavior comes across kinda evil, and scary, punctuating to Merit how it’s time to move on.
Even more applause for Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, getting the perfect “I’m so happy to see them! cast,” ready for their moments to show why. Even though they’re past their prime, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman give this movie a dignity and presence that helps reinforce My Dead Friend Zoe’s importance. Utkarsh Ambudkar does his thing: motormouth comedy with a sweetness underneath. But My Dead Friend Zoe works because of our leading ladies Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales. Martin-Green has mostly been a Trekkie actress, but she steps up to her big screen shot well, internalizing and playing Merit like a frayed wire ready to electrocute anyone who touches her the wrong way, except Zoe. But Natalie Morales I’m the happiest to see. For years I’ve been convinced she’s the most underutilized actress out there, and she finds the perfect pitch for Zoe, unclenching the audience with her sardonic wit, until she baits and switches us with a darker version of that choice as the scenes need it.
If you have struggling military vets around you, hopefully My Dead Friend Zoe encourages you to check on them. For as tough and brave as these people are, that bravery and toughness gets used against them to prevent themselves from opening up to others, trying to “suck it up.” If you’re one of those people, I hope this movie encourages you to find someone close to you to trust, who can help you navigate whatever you’re dealing with. Because as much as I like dead Natalie Morales here, the world is much better if she’s still living in it.