A veteran explains, during one therapy session with other people and where he was recorded, and now impressed in the film “My Dead Friend Zoe,” that: “I have lost more guys here than in Iraq….” and the viewer realizes a group of veterans is the very subject of this documentary, Hausmann-Stokes’s deep look into the lives of the people regarding their mental well-being after leaving service. The filmmaker has been through this in-real-stand as for two decades, he has buried friends from his battalion during a five-year ground tour in the army. Most of the time, however, the veteran characters of the movie are shown looking away from what any sane person would imagine they would need, and needless to say, this was the point of the director.
She served with Zoe (Natalie Morales) in Afghanistan, and now Merit (Sonequa Martin-green), her fellow soldier and her husband is dead. This will haunt her throughout the film. There is a blurry version of Zoe lingering around, stuffing her mouth with Merits’ afternoon drink as she chats in hilarious one-liners that only the viewer can get well, the audience too, who will love how the humorous iconography of Zoe accompanied by much more juxtaposes throughout the film.
Let’s go right out and say it: This is not your normal ghost film and as such, Zoe is exclusively represented through the lens of Merit’s trauma: She lost a friend and to whom she is not free until her guilt is settled, however, she does not really wish to lose Zoe, which is one of the reasons she is not ready to let anybody in. She understands him; she’s been through it herself. After he left the army, he eventually became fascinated with creating educational materials regarding the military culture and concurrent to that follows the plot of his debut feature (a lot of attention has been focused on the fact that one of the executive producers is Travis Kelce, but even more interesting are the dozens of less well-known people who financed this Legion M project).
Clever, honest but not holier than thou, the play which raises awareness is very much a piece of art and a dramatized PSA. Do not fret, it’s a proper movie that will take you on an emotional roller coaster, through awkward chuckles and well placed tears to the satisfying climax. Just understand that the film was made for many reasons besides providing relief from stress. Quite the contrary, the fact that there is such an aim should make one appreciate the end result more. Everyone involved wishes the viewer understands there is danger in military activities and there is danger when one returns home as well. If not treated well, people such as Merit are likely to harm themselves.
The burden which her character carries may not be appreciated by civilians, which is one of the reasons why it was essential for Hausmann-Stokes to cast veterans in most of the roles. Not leading ladies Martin-Green and Morales, nor Ed Harris (who plays Clay, Merit’s grandfather who survived Vietnam) but virtually all the rest of soldiers cast are ex-soldiers themselves. For instance, Morgan Freeman, a pleasantly recognized figure who encompasses oceans of any cruelty in his character of Dr. Cole, a group therapist who is much older than the majority of his patients, is the one who supervised restorative therapy sessions that girl was forced to perform by the court. That was not the first senior veteran that he would encounter who’s dealt with a similar case where the woman’s difficulty was revealing her wounds.
A movie can be perceived as being dishonest when it withholds a major plot point in this situation, how and why Zoe’s life was cut short until the time they believe it is going to have the greatest impact. In this case, Hausmann-Stokes emphasizes the experience of embracing civilian life in Oregon with memories of service throughout the story and recalls those moments to point: having fun with Zoe, hiding from snipers, ignoring the caresses of the male military personnel, and hearing the words of her favorite Scandinavian finish to nowhere songs the lyrics of Umbrella have been rude more than ever: It’s the quote “When the war has took its part … Said I’ll always be your friend.”
The edit is, however, quite intrusive. These interruptions can be viewed as being quite crude and lacking decorum, however, this seems a fact that exists in the present moment after trauma. It is also not something that Merit herself can dictate, as she has no control over when or how she gets the flashes of memory related to Zoe. There is so much activity better than oneself, Morales (Zoe) practically steals the show most of the time as a dead person can be at times as himself. But then there’s a point she decides enough is enough and starts to create trouble, disrupting Merit’s duties and spoiling the romance that was blooming with a friendly but rather naive civilian (Utkarsh Ambudkar).
It is quite often that at work, Dr. Porter has been on a sabbatical recently but because of an unfortunate accident which in the views of Dr. Cole might have more reasons than negligence alone. He does not fall short of patience with her but strict he is. If she does not participate, there is no way in hell is he signing her papers. When Merit begins to not turn up for group therapy sessions, he gives her a ring. He understands the impacts of being able to persuade her could indeed determine life and death. For now however, there’s the problem of pretty much Merit’s grandfather. Her mother (Gloria Reuben), a typical white-collar worker is so busy in her profession that she cannot afford to be with Clay who is showing early signs of Alzheimer’s. And since she looks for an excuse to avoid therapy, Merit takes the car and heads off to the lakeside cabin where she was supposed to prevent Clay.
Overall, it was Clay who Merit thought as her source of inspiration to enlist. However, he is a product of a different time, where any trauma would simply be ignored and buried deep inside oneself, thus even talking to him would not alleviate her problems. The film makes clear a point that society owes an apology to those veterans for not being able to protect them when they got back. More to the point, it feels we know better now and ought to do something about the situation for soldiers who went off to the ‘places nobody wants to be.’ Unsurprisingly, Merit is unable to move forward because she must speak. And, in many ways, she must talk in order to be heard. Hausmann-Stokes’ point is very straightforward and his film makes it very clear how to do it: Start caring about our veterans.
For more movies visit like My Dead Friend Zoe on 123Movies.