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MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE MOVIE REVIEW
PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder according to the online dictionary is a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant vivid recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside world. Writer/director, and US Army veteran paratrooper Kyle Hausmann-Stokes presents his short film Merit x Zoe adapted to the full length feature My Dead Friend Zoe. Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) has been court ordered to attend a veterans group counseling overseen by Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman). Reluctant to share her past trauma, Dr. Cole reminds her that without participating in the program, she is not only preventing herself the opportunity to share and heal but is sabotaging the leniency and grace the court has offered her for whatever happened during her military service. After isolating herself from others for so long, her only constant companion is her dead friend Zoe (Natalie Morales). Zoe is brash, abrasive, and discouraging, although in Merit’s memory, the most loyal and unconditionally loving friend she has ever had. Merit struggles to come to terms with the ghosts of the past, and with having to be a caretaker for her grandfather Dale (Ed Harris), a Vietnam veteran with dementia who can no longer take care of himself. Bradly, Jordan, and Lewayne discuss the importance of films that ask: in a country that is always ready to thank you for your service, what services can we provide to help those who’ve given everything for that country?
DIRECTED BY: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes
STARRING: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Thom Tran
YOUR REVIEWERS
Bradly Martin (Screener Squad, Eye on the Prize, Breakfast Pub)
Bradly Martin was born in the united states and grew up on a healthy diet of sports, films, and books. A rather shy lad who kept to himself, Bradly soon discovered the best way to know a person was to know what people liked. Throughout the years Bradly became a fan of many things and a fanatic of none. From Doctor Dre, to Doctor Strange and the who’s who of Whos. From Playstation to the Dreamcast and Marvel to DC. From LeBron James to James Bond and Lord of the Rings to Lord Palmerston (or Pitt the Elder if you agree with Wade Boggs) and is a huge fan of dad jokes and randomly obscure Simpsons references. Armed with a vast knowledge of comics, films, and pop culture. Bradly traveled the world making friends and sharing takes. As a young man Bradly married the love of his life young and grew older every year with each new child brought into the brood. If trends continue, Scientists predict that .2% of Canada (where Bradly and family reside) will be populated by Bradly’s children by the year 2029. You can hear him leading and listening to his favorite critics on the Screener Squad and Eye on the prize and maybe even provide some comments of his own.
Jordan Cobb (Screener Squad)
Born with a comic book in one hand, a camera in the other, and in front of the television as WrestleMania played out, Jordan Worth Cobb was thus birthed into this crazy world. A Digital Filmmaking major from the University of Central Arkansas, Jordan has done it all in film from directing, writing, editing, and producing in addition to skills involved in film and TV criticism, journalism, and years of podcasting experience. On any given day, her ADHD riddled brain bounces focus from film to pro wrestling to TV to superheroes to noir to video games to espionage and yes, even to sports. She played little league you know. For more of this eccentric nerd, you can follow her on Twitter here and read her original writings on Deepest Corners of My Notebook.
Lewayne White (Screener Squad)
Lewayne’s earliest memories are of watching movies and reading comics, which instilled in him a sense of wonder, a vivid imagination, and unrealistic expectations. It also means he spends a lot of time watching movies, writing scripts for them, and trying to get them made. He lives in the middle of middle America after landing there as a child, and has remained there mainly because he hates packing.
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