Director: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes
Writers: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, Cherish Chen, A.J. Bermudez
Stars: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris
Synopsis: Engaged in a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army, a female Afghanistan veteran comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather at the family’s ancestral lake house.
Seeking help for your mental health is still stigmatized. It’s seen by the world outside that you’re not normal or that you have something wrong with you. It’s especially hard when people you love aren’t supportive of the journey. People deny themselves guidance and help because they can’t admit that there’s something wrong. It may not even be a big thing, but it can turn into one if not dealt with.
That’s the situation in which we meet Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green). She’s a former soldier, returned from Afghanistan, in group therapy because of a court order after a negligent incident at work. Her friend, Zoe (Natalie Morales), is with her as well, but we learn quickly she is only present for Merit because she’s dead.
The reason why Zoe’s dead is built up throughout the film, and when pieces begin to fall into place, we think we know what happened. We make an assumption based on limited facts and it’s not until Merit finally comes to terms with what caused her to be haunted by Zoe, that we understand. Writers Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, Cherish Chen, and A.J. Bermudez zig when we think they’ll zag and catch us dropping our smug look when the devastating truth about Zoe’s death is revealed. It’s a script that challenges our notions about soldiers and challenges our perceptions of what life was like for soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
There is a beauty to the structure of My Dead Friend Zoe. Credit for that has to go to director Hausmann-Stokes and editor Ali Greer crafting the visual look of the film like a person’s memory. As Merit self medicates by running punishing distances, snippets of her life with Zoe flit in. These inserts aren’t plot, but a glimpse of how Merit saw the friend she loved. The flashbacks feel like Merit has been holding herself back from remembering everything. They’re placed in an order that builds the tension, but refuses to reveal more than we need in any given piece. Later, as Merit has her panic attacks, the sound and speed of the images are chaotic and disjointed as Merit tries to suppress them from the forefront of her mind.
However, the technical wizardry wouldn’t work if the core friendship didn’t have great chemistry. Martin-Green and Morales feel so comfortable with each other. Merit and Zoe’s friendship is the kind of friendship that’s more like family. The two of them are great at the goofy rapport with Martin-Green as the straight man and Morales as the loose cannon. They are even better in the hard scenes, the memories Merit is attempting to suppress. There’s a deep sadness to these moments, but it’s more for the memories of our own friends who have left us in one way or another. This relationship feels so real and lived in. Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales are absolutely perfect in these roles.
If there is fault with My Dead Friend Zoe it’s that its plot drags a little once the Alzheimer’s subplot is in full swing. Ed Harris is as good as he always is as Dale, but it feels a little like something tacked on. Merit could have been escaping to escape, but instead she’s escaping to a larger problem that helps the resolution, but only just. It might have been better if Dale was more of a voice for mental health. He, as the one family member that Merit looks up to the most, could have been a guiding light rather than another echo chamber like Zoe trying to tell Merit to get over it.
My Dead Friend Zoe is a terrifically funny and very thought provoking film. It isn’t one that will leave you easily and you won’t want it to. The leads are terrific and the script is very well written. It will make you want to call a friend you haven’t heard from in a while just to reminisce about what made you friends in the first place.
