My Dead Friend Zoe is a 2024 American comedy-drama film written by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and A. J. Bermudez, directed by Hausmann-Stokes and starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Gloria Reuben, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris.
It premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024 (winning the Audience Award), and was theatrically released in the United States on February 28, 2025.
Premise
My Dead Friend Zoe is a dark comedy drama that follows the journey of Merit, a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe, her dead best friend from the Army.
Despite the persistence of her VA group counselor, the tough love of her mother, and the levity of an unexpected love interest, Merit's cozy-dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world. That is, until Merit's estranged grandfather—holed up at the family's ancestral lake house—begins to lose his way and is in need of the one thing he refuses: help.
At its core, this story is about a complicated friendship, a divided family, and the complex ways in which we process grief.
Cast Sonequa Martin-Green as Merit Natalie Morales as Zoe Ed Harris as Dale Morgan Freeman as Dr. Cole Gloria Reuben as Kris Utkarsh Ambudkar as Alex Thom Tran as Rufus Barbara Lusch as Conductor
Production Kyle Hausmann-Stokes directed the film in his feature debut. Written by Hausmann-Stokes, A. J. Bermudez and Cherish Chen, the story was inspired by Hausmann-Stokes' time serving five years in Iraq as a paratrooper and convoy commander. Hausmann-Stokes also wrote and directed the 2022 short film, Merit x Zoe. According to Variety, the film is the first to be financed with green energy tax credits; Ray Maiello produced the film for Radiant Media Studios. Radiant Media Studios brought Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to the project as an executive producer. Legion M co-financed under their crowdfunding model.
In May 2023, it was reported that Ed Harris, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Natalie Morales were cast in the film. In June 2023, it was announced that Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben, and Utkarsh Ambudkar joined the cast in main roles. Filming occurred in Portland, Oregon, Forest Grove, Oregon and Molalla, Oregon in 2023. In September 2023, it was announced that filming wrapped. By January 2024, Dan Romer was composing the film's score.
Release My Dead Friend Zoe premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024, where it won the Audience Award. In June 2024, Briarcliff Entertainment acquired the film. On October 19, it won the Grand Jury prize for Best Feature Narrative at the Woodstock Film Festival. It was theatrically released in the United States on February 28, 2025.
Reception Critical response Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood called the film "a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit." Matt Donato of Collider praised Martin-Green's performance, while Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com also commended Harris, describing him as "one of our best living actors" in the supporting cast.
Variety ranked My Dead Friend Zoe as one of the 10 Best Films of 2025.
References
External links
My Dead Friend Zoe at Movie Spoilers