‌Directed by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes | Written by Hausmann-Stokes, Cherish Chen, and A.J. Bermudez | 98 min | ▲▲▲1/2

Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) is an American veteran who served in Afghanistan with her pal, Zoe (Natalie Morales). Now back stateside, Merit is skipping her group therapy sessions, and when she does show, Zoe’s hanging out, keeping her company but complicating her ability to share her trauma. The fact that Zoe’s dead is especially concerning.

This isn’t a zombie picture — it’s a sensitive drama laced with a little humour. Zoe knows she’s dead while also, clearly, a figment of Merit’s imagination. It’s a solid concept with terrific performances elevating what’s otherwise a predictable script, but its emotional truth is undeniable.

We flash back to Merit and Zoe in uniform overseas to get a sense of their relationship when Zoe was alive. These days Zoe’s serving as an aggressive id, getting Merit to say things she probably shouldn’t — to her group therapy leader, Dr Cole (Morgan Freeman), to her mother, Kris (Gloria Reuben), and to her curmudgeonly grandfather, Dale (Ed Harris), also a vet who lives in a gorgeous lake house and has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. To this complicated family dynamic the plot adds a charming local guy, Alex (Utkarsh Ambudkar, hilarious) who works at the seniors home Kris wants to put Dale in. She has recruited Merit to help her make that happen.

It’s really no wonder Merit can’t let go of Zoe in the face of all of this. Martin-Green and Morales have terrific chemistry — it’s great seeing Martin-Green out of the constricting Starfleet uniforms and free of the storylines that ruined Star Trek: Discovery‘s final season. Always charismatic, she finally gets a chance to show her chops. While Harris does gritty and grizzled well, his Dale has about two speeds — grumpy and angry.

The film’s  payoff makes it clear that the damage done to the mental health of soldiers in combat — even if the film doesn’t show the actual combat — can be a lifelong trauma, and combatants find no respite back home.

That’s the picture’s secret weapon. That undeniable truth patches over a few clumsy moments to make for an effective and heartfelt time at the movies, and the knowledge the filmmaker is a vet himself helps make My Dead Friend Zoe that much more engaging, driving home the important message of this issue movie.