KSL Movie Show review: ‘My Dead Friend Zoe’ is a lot to take in
Feb 27, 2025, 1:00 PM
'My Dead Friend Zoe' It’s a lot to take in, but it’s so well written and acted, that it completely works and makes total sense.
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How does one walk that tightest of tight ropes between death and comedy – without being silly or campy? Here’s your answer – it’s “My Dead Friend Zoe.”
To make it even a bit more challenging, how about throwing in some combat PTSD, veteran dementia, some soldier survival guilt and a large dose of trying to convince grandpa he needs to move to a rest home. Rolling in the aisles yet?
That’s the task that awaited co-writer and first-time feature film director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, a U.S. Army paratrooper and convoy commander in Iraq, who wanted people at home to experience the trauma and triumphs of returning soldiers and the haunting from those precious souls who didn’t return.
So he created the story of Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) a U.S. Army veteran back from Afghanistan, who can’t forget about her best friend and Army pal Zoe (Natalie Morales), to the point where her dead friend is constantly with her, but no one else can see or hear her.
Unwilling to open up about this unusual pairing, Merit is assigned to a VA group counselor, Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman) who tries to get her to explain what’s bothering her, but Merit clams up and decides to focus instead on another family problem, namely her Vietnam Vet grandpa Dale (Ed Harris) who lives alone in a rustic cabin on a private lake away from a small Oregon town, but has bouts of forgetfulness that’s worrying Merit’s mother.
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Mom is determined to put Grandpa Dale in the town’s rest home, owned by a family of Indian immigrants, now run by the eldest son Alex (Utkarsh Ambudkar), where she knows he’ll be safe. Good luck pulling that off.
All the while, Zoe is chiming in on every little thing, humorously cutting right to the point, suggesting stuff that no one alive could ever say out loud. Merit tries to ignore her, but sometimes she just can’t, making her look like a crazy person talking to herself.
That’s the comic relief part, but there’s so much more going on under the surface as Merit deals with perhaps some unexplained guilt, which might explain why Zoe is there. We just don’t know, but slowly through flashbacks, the circumstances start to take shape.
It’s a lot to take in, but it’s so well written and acted, that it completely works and makes total sense.
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On a side note, I thought it was interesting that Utkarsh Ambudkar is the TV husband in the hit CBS comedy series “Ghosts,” where his wife sees and hears the deceased, but he cannot. The same is true in this movie, as Merit chats with Zoe, but Utkarsh is none the wiser.
Regardless, this is such a thoughtful and engaging effort to explore the mindset of returning soldiers from war and the adjustment they are forced to make – while also posing the terrible truth that some sadly are unable to cope – in numbers that are too shocking to imagine.
If we do anything right in this insane world, this is a situation we need to help stop. We owe them that much.
MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE (B+) Rated R for language. Starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Gloria Reuben. Plus, the veterans in Dr. Cole’s therapy group are real-life soldiers telling their real-life stories. Co-written and directed by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes in his feature film directorial debut. Filmed in Portland, Forest Grove and Molalla, Oregon. Running time: 103 minutes.
The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.
