I’ve seen my share of films about PTSD in the military, but My Dead Friend Zoe hit me in a place not many films do. Even though this one focuses on women instead of men, it doesn’t make it any easier to digest. Throw in a bout of Alzheimer’s, and you have quite a story for anybody to watch. Many Americans suffer from these two ailments, and they cause a lot of stress and aggravation from family and friends. With the medical advancements of this day and age, doctors are getting closer and closer to figuring a way to deal with these two mental illnesses. 

Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green, Star Trek Discovery) and Zoe (Natalie Morales) are two soldiers in Afghanistan in 2016. They are mechanics, but they end up on guard duty for a potential sniper. After the war, Merit is going through the motions and living her life. What there is of it. She tries to go to grief counseling in the form of a therapy group, but she can’t seem to get away from her friend, whom she lost not that long before. She just can’t get her out of her head, and it’s affecting everything she does. Including when she has to go to Oregon to take care of her ill grandfather Dale (Ed Harris), who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.

The fact of the matter is that the Martin-Green character is suffering from her own disease known as bereavement hallucinations or rather quasi-sensory experience (QED). This affects her at all turns. The film goes as far as having them interact in many different ways, and they even hold hands and touch things at the same time. This is quite interesting because, obviously one is dead and the other is alive. This was a strange decision if you asked me. Unless this ailment really allows this sort of thing. I would hate to have such an unbelievable thing befall me. I feel sorry for anybody who does have this disease, though. It has to be unbearable to an incredible degree.

I was a fan of Martin Green when she was on the Walking Dead. from 2010-2022. She held her own in a very good cast. Then she moved on to Star Trek Discovery, which she’s still on today..  Her work on those two shows has shown me she was ready for the leading role in this movie. It couldn’t have been easy acting opposite a person that was supposedly not there, but also acting opposite others who are there. She is a seasoned actress who probably worked in separate scenes with each co-star. Then, the director joined the scenes together in the post. That’s the only way I could imagine the director being able to achieve his goal. She was very believable in both scenes. She has come a long way in her career. She was very good in this role as she’s been in the past.

Even though the Alzheimer’s scenes are brushed over in this film, they are still there as far as the relationship of the Martin-Green and Harris characters. Their interactions and back and forth create a drama for the movie besides the QED stuff.martin-Green and Harris have good chemistry with one another. I’m not at the point of Alzheimer’s yet in my life, but I am starting to get to the point where I’m forgetting little things like where I left my phone charger or coffee cup and so forth. I would hate to get to the point where I’m walking around and don’t know where I’m going. Or driving places because I don’t know how to get back home like a friend of mine had. Memory loss at the easiest stages is insufferable to deal with. I can’t imagine what it’s like at that later stage, 

The supporting cast has two men who play pivotal characters opposite Martin Green’s character. Morgan Freeman plays a dr. who runs the therapy group, and Utkarsh Ambudkar plays a love interest. They both have key roles in the story, but it’s Morales who has the best supporting role of the bunch. She really goes to another place as this character opposite Martin=Green. I’ve seen her a couple of times before. This is the best she’s been in my mind. This was a stellar supporting cast.

Even though these ailments are handled decently well I think they both could have been handled a little bit better, One is in your face the whole time, isn’t talked about and the other isn’t handled very well at all, because it’s put on the back burner most of the film. It’s hard to watch My Dead Friend Zoe because of this sometimes. As a whole, the film isn’t bad, though I just wished it had gone to greater lengths to deal with these two diseases. The cast is fine, and the direction is as well. This is going to be relatable for many men and women here and abroad.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen