My Dead Friend Zoe
Grief can be a funny thing.
- Rating
Movie Details
My Dead Friend Zoe is a film that explores themes of grief, humor, and PTSD through its main character, Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), an Afghanistan war veteran. The story presents Merit as interacting with the ghost of her deceased military comrade, Zoe (Natalie Morales). This ghost figure serves as a companion and source of dialogue, contributing to the humorous elements in the film.
The film is not horror. Instead, the Zoe ghost functions primarily as an emotional support for Merit dealing with the push-pull between moving on and staying tethered to the comfort of best friend.
Zoe & Merit in Group Therapy
My Dead Friend Zoe explores Merit’s fractured relationships: 1) with her late friend Zoe, 2) her fading grandfather (Ed Harris) experiencing early Alzheimer’s, and 3) a society ill-equipped to understand trauma that does not bleed. Morgan Freeman is the leader of the group therapy, just being Morgan, not preachy, just offering help.
Filmed in Portland, Oregon and in an old, isolated lake house in Molalla, Oregon. The lake house is a metaphor of how alone Merit is in the film. Many of the actors listed in the credits are veterans.
My Dead Friend Zoe is a tender narrative that is not always comfortable, but it is honest, and it lingers well beyond its final frame.
Published July 2025