''My Dead Friend Zoe'' is a 2024 American war comedy-drama film written by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and

A. J. Bermudez A. J. Bermudez is an American author and screenwriter. Her short fiction and screenwriting have won a number of awards, including the PAGE International Screenwriting Award (''iCON'', 2021), the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize ("The Lady Will ...

, directed by Hausmann-Stokes and starring

Sonequa Martin-Green Sonequa Chaunté Martin-Green (; Martin; born March 21, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Michael Burnham, the main character in the streaming television series '' Star Trek: Discovery'', and as Sasha W ...

, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris,

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

Gloria Reuben Gloria Elizabeth Reuben is a Canadian-American actress, producer, and singer. She is well-known for her role as Jeanie Boulet on the medical drama ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1995–1999, 2008), for which she was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, a ...

and

Utkarsh Ambudkar Utkarsh Ambudkar ( ; born December 8, 1983), also known by his stage name UTK the INC, is an American actor, rapper, and singer. He is known for his film roles including '' Pitch Perfect'' (2012), ''Game Over, Man!'' (2018), ''Blindspotting'' (20 ...

. It is based on Hausmann-Stokes's short film ''Merit x Zoe''. It is also Hausmann-Stokes's feature directorial debut. It premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

on March 9, 2024, where it won the Audience Award, and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on November 1, 2024, by Briarcliff Entertainment.

Cast

as Merit * Natalie Morales as Zoe * Ed Harris as Dale *

as Dr. Cole *

as Kris *

as Alex *Thom Tran as Rufus

Production

According to VARIETY, it's the first film co-financed using President Biden's green energy tax credits under an innovative structure deployed by Mike Field and Ray Maiello at Radiant Media Studios (Maiello is also a producer on the film). Radiant Media Studios brought

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

tight end Travis Kelce to the project as executive producer representing Kelce's first production credit. Legion M co-financed under their crowdfunding model. In May 2023, it was announced that Harris, Martin-Green, and Morales were cast in the film. In June 2023, it was announced that Freeman, Reuben, and Ambudkar were cast in the film. Filming occurred in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, Forest Grove, Oregon and Molalla, Oregon in 2023. In September 2023, it was announced that filming wrapped.

Awards and Reception

The film won the Audience Award in competition at SXSW and its reception has been highly positive with a 100% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on thirteen reviews, including from top film critics Variety, Deadline, IndieWire, Collider, Roger Ebert and Hollywood Reporter. "My Dead Friend Zoe is a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit" - Valerie Complex, Deadline “Sonequa Martin-Green Is Giving One of the Year's Best Performances” - Matt Donato, Collider “A powerful drama with a phenomenal performance at its core and another reminder that Ed Harris is one of our best living actors in its supporting cast.” – Brian Tallerico, Roger Ebert

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 22022784 2024 films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films Films shot in Oregon