My Dead Friend Zoe (2025) Briarcliff/Comedy-Drama RT: 98 minutes Rated R (language, thematic elements) Director: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes Screenplay: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes Music: Dan Romer Cinematography: Matt Sakatani Roe Release date: February 28, 2025 (US) Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben, Utkarsh Ambudkar.
Rating: *** ½
And now a peek inside the mind of Movie Guy 24/7. Be warned, it’s a scary place. When I first heard the title My Dead Friend Zoe, it sounded to me like a quirky comedy-horror about a high school misfit (female) whose best friend dies and comes back as a zombie. I was thinking Lisa Frankenstein and My Boyfriend’s Back. That’s NOT what it is. It’s actually a serious drama about PTSD and guilt. Boy, did I get that one wrong!
This past Monday, I attended an AMC Screen Unseen event. For those not in the know, it’s a special showing of an unknown upcoming film. Audiences aren’t told in advance what movie they’ll be seeing. The only info given is the MPA rating so they’ll know if it’s okay to bring kids or teens. If you do a little research, you might be able to find an approximate run time. Nobody, not even theater staff, knows what the feature will be until it actually starts. It’s a fun little thing to do on a dull weeknight. Some of us regulars try to guess what we’ll be seeing. A lot of us thought we’d be seeing the British action movie Cleaner, a Die Hard clone starring Daisy Ridley and Clive Owen. The run time for the R-rated actioner was a close match. Nobody was prepared for what it actually was, the significantly heavier drama My Dead Friend Zoe. We all watched in stunned silence.
Writer-director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes describes My Dead Friend Zoe as a “dark comedy” in the intro that preceded the film. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I didn’t see the comedy in it. I guess it really is a subjective thing. In any event, it’s inspired by the Army vet’s own experiences in Iraq. The main character is Merit (Green, The Walking Dead), a former Army mechanic suffering from PTSD. It weighs heavily on her. She’s pretty much alienated everybody in her life except her best friend/fellow soldier Zoe (Morales, No Hard Feelings) and she’s dead or, if you prefer, physically dead but alive in spirit. Zoe is always with her, serving as a constant reminder of Merit’s pain and guilt. She’s the reason why Merit won’t open up at her court-ordered support group run by Dr. Cole (Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption). He refuses to sign her paperwork until she shares which she can’t/won’t because Zoe is holding her back emotionally.
As if she doesn’t already have enough problems, Merit’s mother (Reuben, Lincoln) calls and tells her she needs to help out with her grandfather Dale (Harris, The Truman Show). A Vietnam vet, he’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Mom wants Merit to aid her in moving him from his beautiful lake house to a healthcare facility. This entails selling the house which he would never go for so they have to hide what they’re doing from him.
While staying at her granddad’s place, Merit goes for a morning jog and finds herself in the local cemetery where she meets Alex (Ambudkar, Ghosts). He’s cutting the grass around the gravestones even though he doesn’t work there. He actually works at the facility where Merit’s mom is looking to place Dale. Merit starts a tentative relationship with him, but it’s hampered by her refusal to finally confront and acknowledge what’s going on with her.
A lot of the time, it’s the smaller movies that wield the most power. Independent films aren’t bound by the same constraints as major Hollywood productions with their big stars and studio execs more concerned with checking all the boxes than making films that matter. I doubt any of the majors would make a film like My Dead Friend Zoe. It’s too raw and honest for mainstream audiences. It doesn’t so much depict the horrors of war as it does how they affect the soldiers after the fact. Rather than show us horrific images of war and violence, Stokes lets his characters do the talking. The members of the support group, all played by former military, talk about their experiences. Seeing their raw and real emotion increases the emotional impact.
The acting is superb in My Dead Friend Zoe. Green crushes it as the psychologically damaged Merit. She makes her character’s pain palpable. Her scenes with Morales, whether alive or dead, have a genuine feel. They’re friends, but they come from different backgrounds. Whereas Merit had it pretty good growing up (school, family and money), Zoe’s only option was to enlist. Now that her tour is almost up, she’s scared to return to civilian life because there’s nothing for her out there. She wants to sign on for another tour; Merit tries to convince her to give civilian life a go.
Freeman and Harris are both great in My Dead Friend Zoe. Would you expect anything less from two actors with immeasurable talent? Harris (why doesn’t he have an Oscar yet?) delivers a powerful performance as an ailing Vietnam vet who wants to hold onto his pride a little longer. Oscar winner Freeman is quietly impactful as the firm but sympathetic group leader who genuinely wants Merit to take that difficult first step to recovery.
It may not have been the kind of movie I was expecting, but My Dead Friend Zoe is excellent. My only gripe is that Stokes seems to have taken a cue from Angel Studios by pleading for donations as the end credits rolled. It doesn’t lessen the overall impact of the film; it just comes off as shameless and pandering. Aside from this very small glitch, it’s a film worth checking out.