by Tim Gordon
In a genre that so often reduces military veterans to one-note symbols of heroism or trauma, My Dead Friend Zoe stands out for its willingness to sit with the messiness, the guilt, the loyalty, the coping mechanisms that blur the line between healthy and harmful.
Written by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and A.J. Bermudez and directed by Hausmann-Stokes, the film takes a surreal yet grounded look at the relationships that follow us long after the battlefield.
At its center is Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), an Afghanistan veteran doing her best to keep her life stitched together while grappling with wounds that therapy can’t easily mend. Merit’s closest confidante, Zoe (Natalie Morales), is her battle buddy in every sense, the friend who knows all her secrets, finishes her sentences, and eggs her on to run from responsibilities she can’t face yet. The fact that Zoe appears mostly when no one else is around hints at just how deep Merit’s struggle runs, but the film wisely lets their bond feel real and vital rather than tragic.
Martin-Green brings a bruised but resilient spirit to Merit, balancing cynicism with the fragile hope that maybe she could still make peace with her past. Morales is equally sharp as Zoe, infusing her with irreverent charm that never lets the film get too heavy, even when the script tiptoes into darker corners. Their chemistry feels like a real friendship forged in the worst possible circumstances, affectionate, bickering, co-dependent, and often hilarious.
When Merit retreats to her family’s ancestral lake house, a place meant to be a safe harbor but full of its ghosts, the story shifts gears. There, she squares off with her Vietnam vet grandfather (Ed Harris), who carries his decades-old baggage. Harris is reliably magnetic, giving the grandfather an edge of stubbornness that mirrors Merit’s defensive walls. Their strained dynamic captures how generational gaps in dealing with war’s aftermath can drive families apart and, with effort, maybe bring them back together.
Gloria Reuben lends gentle authority as a voice of reason in Merit’s orbit, while Morgan Freeman’s Dr. Cole provides the right amount of tough love in therapy sessions that Merit would rather sabotage than survive. Utkarsh Ambudkar and the supporting cast offer small but welcome moments of warmth and humor that round out the film’s world.
Hausmann-Stokes, himself an Army veteran, clearly pours his lived experience into the film’s tone. My Dead Friend Zoe isn’t always tidy, it shifts between buddy comedy, ghost story, and earnest family drama can feel tonally jarring at times, but there’s an authenticity in its refusal to give easy answers. It understands that the people we carry with us, whether they’re still here or not, can be both our lifeline and our biggest obstacle.
What makes the film resonate is its compassion for Merit’s flaws. It doesn’t judge her for leaning on a friendship that might be keeping her stuck; instead, it gently suggests that healing doesn’t always mean letting go, sometimes it means learning to hold on differently.
While it might not dig as deep into its intergenerational themes as it could, My Dead Friend Zoe succeeds as a tender, unconventional portrait of friendship, grief, and survival. Anchored by a raw, relatable performance from Martin-Green and crackling chemistry with Morales, it’s a reminder that sometimes the hardest person to confront is the version of ourselves that refuses to be left behind.
Grade: B