Thanks to its title, I assumed 2025’s My Dead Friend Zoe would offer a wacky zombie comedy. Instead, it takes a more serious bent, albeit one not devoid of laughs.

In Afghanistan circa 2016, soldiers Merit Charles (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Zoe Ramirez (Natalie Morales) become close pals. This relationship continues even after Zoe’s death.

Despite Zoe’s passing, Merit still imagines her pal as an active presence in her life. Merit attempts to work through her issues.

As implied at the start, the title of Friend feels like a strange choice for the film in question. Yeah, it comes with some black humor – mainly related to the snarky commentary Imaginary Zoe offers to Merit – but the film itself leans dramatic the majority of the time.

Indeed, Friend exists as something of a PSA. Writer/director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes based the movie on his own experiences and wants it to serve as a way to encourage support of troubled veterans.

Which I admire, of course, and the knowledge Friend connects to Hausmann-Stokes’ own life adds a charge. The tale changes a lot – ergo the “inspired by” credit at the start – but still retains a truthful vibe.

I also like the quirky manner in which Hausmann-Stokes pursues his exploration of Merit’s continuing trauma. The unavoidable reminders of her deceased pal give Friend a twist that means the movie comes with more creativity than the average “military veteran struggles to readjust” narrative.

All that said, Friend tends to seem more conventional than I might like in a lot of other ways. Even with the unusual twists, it follows a pretty standard structure that we’ve seen in plenty of other films related to troubled individuals who try to get out of their holes.

Not that these tropes actively damage Friend. I just think they limit its ability to stand out from the pack.

And the semi-trite elements also mean that Friend settles into more of a “cinematic comfort zone” than I’d prefer. I mean that because the story follows so many of the standard narrative developments, the viewer will foresee various plot and character points. This then renders those developments less impactful because we detected them in advance.

Without the presence of spoilers, I will say I didn’t figure out the nature of Zoe’s demise before the movie revealed it. This revelation comes late in the film and manages to add a dramatic jolt.

Still, I think too much of Friend feels Standard Hollywood. Again, I don’t mind that in an absolute sense, but given the flick’s unusual premise, the manner in which it leans toward the same old same old disappoints somewhat.

An excellent cast helps Friend, and Martin-Green leads the way with a completely honest performance as our lead. She never panders or betrays cheap emotion as she makes Merit a fully fleshed-out role.

Morales offers the appropriate snide vibe to Zoe and brings out darker tones as necessary, and Ed Harris also adds depth to his potentially cliché part as Merit’s increasingly senile grandfather. Friend wastes Morgan Freeman as the leader of Merit’s counseling group, though, as he gets to do little more than nag Merit.

Even with the under-utilization of a great actor and some too conventional narrative choices, I still like Friend. It brings a good twist to its genre and develops into a mostly compelling story.

My Dead Friend Zoe appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie provided a largely solid presentation.

Sharpness worked well. A few interiors tended to feel a little soft at times, but these instances didn’t cause concerns and they remained modest so the movie mostly remained accurate.

I saw no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. The movie also displayed no print flaws.

Friend opted for a fairly typical mix of amber/orange and teal, though not cranked to absurd extremes. Within those constraints, colors looked appropriate.

Blacks appeared dark and dense, and shadows boasted good delineation. Low-light scenes seemed smooth and well-rendered. This turned into an effective transfer.

I also felt pleased with the engaging DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Friend. Unsurprisingly, combat/action scenes added the most zing to the proceedings, as those cranked out vivid material from all around the spectrum.

In addition, the mix brought a good sense of place and ambience throughout the film. Music showed nice stereo presence, and effects meshed together well. These moved smoothly across speakers and formed a quality environment for the material.

Audio quality seemed satisfying. Music was clear and full, while effects offered accurate, dynamic information.

Speech appeared natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. The soundtrack fit the story on display.

Called A Veteran’s Story, we find a 14-minute, 48-second featurette. It involves writer/director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, and actors Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Utkarsh Ambudkar.

The featurette covers the project’s roots in Hausmann-Stokes’ experiences and its development, story/characters, cast and performances, the movie’s tone, and its social connections. Despite its brevity, the reel works pretty well, especially when Hausmann-Stokes discusses the way his life influenced the tale.

Two Deleted Scenes appear. We get “Bird Feeder” (1:56) and “Goodwill” (0:52).

“Feeder” gives us a character moment between Merit and her grandfather, while “Goodwill” offers some exposition about Merit’s precarious legal status. Both seem moderately interesting but not more than that.

With My Dead Friend Zoe, we get a character drama with a twist. The main narrative tends to feel less creative than its novel concept implies but the film still does more right than wrong. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio but only provides minor supplements. While it seems a little too conventional at times, Friend largely works.