My Dead Friend Zoe

This movie is absolutely positively not even in the slightest bit a comedy or a dark comedy. It is incredibly sad. And very boring for the first 55 minutes (i fell asleep multiple times, i never do that). That being said, the movie recruits real veterans to play the roles of the veterans in the support group. The movie as a whole shines a light on some incredibly important (and often forgotten/overlooked) topics. I cried for the last 1/3 of the movie. Veteran or not, anyone who suffers from PTSD/SI, or even knows someone who does, will relate to this movie. And if that's not you, you'll still most likely appreciate the significance of the themes in this film. I'd categorize this movie as (in this order): drama, tragedy, war.

Merit is a female Afghanistan veteran, back home in Oregon. As the movie begins we see flashback scenes which included her and her close friend Zoe deployed. But we soon realize that Zoe is dead yet in many scenes we see her, representing Merit's inability to get past all that.

Ed Harris does a good turn as Merit's elderly granddad, living in his long-time home on a small lake. Merit's mom, the man's daughter, is thinking that he might be developing dementia and she is actively trying to get him into an assisted living facility. Merit will play a pivotal role in resolving the issue.

Morgan Freeman also has a key role, he facilitates a group meeting and Merit is one of the participants. She has to complete the sessions and get his signature to keep her out of legal trouble but she is reluctant to share what is really going on. So he plays a pivotal role in helping her get past her own PTSD.

Good character study, my wife and I watched it at home, on DVD from our public library.

Throughout this movie I felt there was something missing or wrong with the entire premise or story line.

After some time thinking things over and re-watching the movie, I think I know what it is: It really shouldn't be a comedy.

The subject matter is important and I think it would have been much more effective had the movie been entirely dramatic.

The story of a multi-generational military family - having made sacrifices for the country at great personal cost - should be told with more seriousness.

I do understand the artistic choice to use an imaginary dead friend as a story device. But I think it could have been done well even without the comedy.

Still, the acting was very good. And I'm glad Sonequa Martin-Green got to be lead in a movie that has nothing to do with Star Trek.

I had an idea on what the story was about, but it threw a couple curve balls at me. The fight at home is sometimes worse than the fight in the war. We had an epidemic, and I'm happy to hear that it's been finally slowing down a bit since 2019. My heart goes to all those who are effected, no matter at what level. I hope better programs are put into place going forward. We shouldn't be sending them out, just to bring them back and let them suffer alone. We have a duty to them, as they served a duty to all of us. I think that's one thing a lot of us can unite on. Truly a great story with a powerful message. The movie can be a little slow at times, so that's where my 7 comes in, but its still one I'd tell the right people to go and see.

Saw at AMC on 3-5-2025 with Nicole.

Yes it is a movie about veterans but it is not just about that, for me till the first half it was like omg not this same old story again specially I was watching the movie in a film festival but secondly half movie started to reveal more details and it was ooohhh thats different and nice, director made an amazing job you will feel his touches in a lot of things. Big shout out for Natalie Morales amazing acting, I loved every scene she was in. I would have loved if the movie main characters was males just because of the stereotype of men should be strong and control feelings bla bla bla which lead eventually men not revealing there emotions, but director had a fair point of why main characters were women.