My Dead Friend Zoe (2025)

​“My Dead Friend Zoe” stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Gloria Reuben, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris.  Released on February 28, 2025, the film has a war veteran struggling to adapt due to her relationship with her dead friend.

The film featured the feature directorial debut of Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, who served in the U.S. Army during the Iraq War and directed the 2011 documentary, “Now After…”.  It is based on Hausmann-Stokes’ 2022 short film, “Merit x Zoe”.  We all have different ways of expressing grief after volunteering to serve in the U.S. Army.  Most people express it through uncontrollable emotions, while others convey it using a different method.  For this particular veteran, she holds on to it through her friend only she can see.  I guess we’re never too old to have an imaginary friend by our side, even if it’s one who was once alive.  This defines the latest movie that sees a director revisiting the topic from their source material in a feature film format.  I’ve recently seen one involving a miracle amid a diving incident, so what’s stopping me from watching another?  Does it heal me regarding its cinematic and often humorous reflection of grief, or is it better off dead?  Let’s find out.

The story follows Merit (Martin-Green), a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who recently departed from her duty.  Her only companion keeping her company is Zoe (Morales), her best friend from the Army, whom only Merit can see.  However, her obsession with her dead best friend keeps Merit from adapting back to normalcy, causing concern from those around her, including her VA group counselor, Dr. Cole (Freeman), and her strict mother, Kris (Reuben).  That is until Merit’s estranged grandfather, a retired Vietnam veteran, Dale (Harris), starts to lose his way.  This puts Merit in an internal struggle to overcome her grief and reunite her divided family.

It’s very uncommon that the final weekend of February lacked any exciting choices to see in the theater.  This year seemed no different despite some of them receiving decent reviews.  However, out of this weekend’s slate of releases, “My Dead Friend Zoe” just happened to intrigue me the most.  Besides the strong early reviews and some recognizable actors like Morgan Freeman, my interest in this film is due to my fascination with war movies, especially ones involving grief and PTSD following the veterans’ service.  Some films involving the aftermath of war, including 2017’s “Thank You for Your Service”, have proven that the readjustment to normalcy can be as emotionally challenging as surviving in the war zone.  If properly executed, they can send audiences into an emotional roller coaster that convinces audiences to be aware of mental illness.  “My Dead Friend Zoe” was tasked with creating that familiar experience without being too sentimentally manipulative or even insulting to the topics.  After watching it, I found myself surprised to see that it completed this task with flying colors.

While it may appear to be a melodrama you’d typically see on the Hallmark channel, “My Dead Friend Zoe” successfully avoided this pitfall by investing effort in its narrative quality and thematic depth.  Because of this, the film became a genuinely light-hearted and satisfyingly thoughtful drama that provokes as many chuckles as it does in tears.  With the film being classified as a comedy-drama, “My Dead Friend Zoe” had a pretty tricky objective of displaying its serious topics light-heartedly without insulting them with its humor.  This is another film that explores PTSD and grief, particularly among veterans who returned from their service to adjust to civilian life.  In Merit’s case, her grief comes from imagining her late friend Zoe as if she were still with her.  However, as the film progresses toward its third act, it showcases that there’s more to these invisible wounds than what I was led to believe.  That sequence made me see this post-war journey differently, especially regarding Merit’s friendship with Zoe and its themes of guilt and forgiveness.  It not only surrounded this “ordinary” friendship with genuine depth and humanity, but it also manifested the emotional core that’s more sincere and honest than manipulatively corny.

Of course, when combined with its humor, it could risk being tone-deaf in its themes if the balance isn’t properly in check.  Fortunately, “My Dead Friend Zoe” avoided that risk entirely due to Hausmann-Stokes’ commitment as a director.  It’s easy to see that this is a film he wanted to make because it was inspired by Hausmann-Stokes’ time in Iraq as a paratrooper and convoy commander.  I may not be in the same shoes as him, but I can tell he’s using that experience as a veteran to manifest his perspective and feelings about the situation through filmmaking.  Hausmann-Stokes ensured that the message was loud and clear without shoving it down my throat while injecting the healing process with a lighter and charismatic touch, with much of the humor coming from the genuine human connection, including the chemistry between Merit and Zoe.  As a result, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes expressed an authentic and emotionally compelling experience that reflects the ups and downs of the path of healing while displaying himself as a respectable filmmaker.  The screenplay by Hausmann-Stokes and A. J. Bermudez was also strong in expressing its commentary and the storytelling in a humane manner, especially the surprising third act.  I would also credit Ali Greer’s editing for its snappy transitions without making it look too choppy and maintaining its consistency in the pacing.

In addition to the directing and writing, the movie strongly benefited from its superb cast, including Sonequa Martin-Green as Merit.  Martin-Green has had plenty of decent credits under her belt, including “Star Trek: Discovery”, “The Walking Dead”, and “New Girl”.  In terms of her movie roles, however, I’ve only known her as LeBron James’ wife in the “Space Jam” sequel nobody gave a rabbit’s foot about.  Her involvement in “My Dead Friend Zoe” allowed her to impress me in her starring role, and boy, did she impress me a lot.  With just the right amount of humanity and vulnerability injected into Merit’s internal struggle to heal, Sonequa Martin-Green provided a fantastic performance that’s heartfelt and even heartbreaking.  Natalie Morales was also great in conveying humor and heartache into Zoe’s seemingly arrogant personality, enhancing the irresistible chemistry between the war friends.  Morgan Freeman also had plenty of solid moments as Merit’s group counselor despite his role being smaller than most.  However, it did make me wish that Freeman was my therapist.  Finally, we have Ed Harris, who’s just as superb as he’s always been regarding his miraculous performance as Dale.

Overall, “My Dead Friend Zoe” avoids being dead in the water by delivering an emotionally thought-provoking and genuinely profound journey of self-healing and post-war grief.  At first glance, this would’ve been another forgettable melodrama where its manipulative emotions overshadow its themes and call to action regarding mental illness.  However, I’m surprised that this wasn’t the case, as it successfully invokes the lighter side of its challenging and thoughtful topics without drowning their intended purpose with its schmaltzy insecurity.  The fact that it’s a smartly written and respectfully directed comedy-drama serves as a nice bonus, along with a cast that has fun with their roles while expressing their brilliance through their talents.  This might be another film that might get overlooked after a few weeks, but if you get the opportunity and it’s playing near your area, I recommend you check this one out, especially if you’re a veteran.

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