‘My Dead Friend Zoe’ Filmmaker Kyle Hausmann-Stokes On Combating Veteran Stereotypes In Hollywood With Engaging Female Leads

deadline.com:

My Dead Friend Zoe, directed by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and co-written with A.J. Bermudez, is more than just your average military-based drama.

Using his own personal experience during and after serving in the Army as a Bronze Star combat veteran, Hausmann-Stokes manages to interweave a relatable story that deals with complex themes of trauma, self-sabotage and maintaining a willfulness for life and love through human connection. “Veterans are more than our stereotype,” the filmmaker told Deadline. “We veterans don’t own PTSD.

Anybody can experience hard stuff. This film is not [just] for veterans. It’s about veterans, but it’s for everybody.”  Starring Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales in the lead roles, the film centers around a female veteran named Merit (Martin-Green) who can’t quite deal with the weight of carrying the leftover PTSD after leaving the war.

Making matters worse is the fact that her traumas manifest in the shape of her deceased best friend Zoe (Morales) who often shows up as a figment of her imagination.