Tells the story of a female veteran engaged in a mysterious but comfortable friendship with her wise-cracking (and dead) best friend from the Army. When the vet is summoned to the remote lake house...
What better person could there be to tell a complicated story about veterans than a veteran himself? That’s one of the reasons co-writer and director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’ “My Dead Friend Zoe” works so well. A decorated former Staff Sgt. who served in the Army’s Airborne Infantry, Hausmann-Stokes adapted the story from his own experiences, which lends an intimate credibility to his dark comedy-drama.
Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) proudly carried on a family tradition by serving in the Army, but now that she’s back after a tour in Afghanistan, she’s haunted by the ghost of her dead friend and platoon mate Zoe (Natalie Morales). Reluctantly in group therapy, Merit is at odds with her mother (Gloria Reuben) after she insists that her ailing and estranged grandfather (Ed Harris) needs to be put in an assisted living facility. Merit moves in to help him out, and their relationship deepens as she finally begins to process the trauma that holds to key as to why her wisecracking dead friend always seems to be hanging around.
It’s fascinating that Hausmann-Stokes, a white man, decided to tell his story with two women of color. It’s not often you see films like this with two female leads, and Martin-Green and Morales are believable as former veterans. Their onscreen chemistry is natural, as is the humor and drama that arises in the trajectory of their characters.
The tangled and rocky relationships that humans so often experience with friends and family create the heart of the story, as well as the very real struggles that veterans face when coping with their return to the everyday world after their military service ends. PTSD isn’t glossed over, and neither is grief. Merit is not only haunted by her best friend, but also by the trauma of her military service as well as a tragic event related to it all.
Hausmann-Stokes doesn’t reveal what happened until the very end of his film, choosing instead to show bits and pieces of Zoe’s story in abrupt flashbacks. He builds suspense, but his narrative bounces around from too many different directions (Merit and Zoe, Merit and her mother, Merit and her grandfather, Merit and her VA counselor (Morgan Freeman), Merit and her potential new boyfriend (Utkarsh Ambudkar)). These relationships are all well written and meaningful, but there’s a lot going on story-wise. A lot of the narrative could’ve been tightened up a bit, but the scenes with Merit and her grandfather are especially effective.
Of course all of this is highly personal for Hausmann-Stokes, so it’s no surprise that the film ends as a Public Service Announcement for ongoing mental health assistance for veterans. It’s a noble cause that’s extremely important, and “My Dead Friend Zoe” successfully raises awareness of the issue through a more entertaining and less preachy lens than other films about veterans.
