This dark comedy is a running conversation between two female Army buddies, one of which, is dead. Merit, (Sonequa Martin-Green- TV’s Star Trek Discovery, The Walking Dead), consistently has detailed memories running through her head of her best friend Zoe (Natalie Morales – Parks and Recreation, Language Lesson, The Morning Show) as if she was still here. They sing, joke, poke fun and laugh with each other about the silliest things. But Merit is deeply troubled, now lost without her friend, saying “When you lose someone, you don’t know who you are without them.”
This is Writer/Director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’ first feature length film. Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, he based this film on his own experiences and those of his buddies while serving in the Army in Iraq, awarded the Bronze Medal, but he places the wartime story in Afghanistan and decided to make the leads female. Zoe is from Cuban heritage and Sonequa is African American and they mesh well. They are tough cookies when sexist soldiers make a move and Merit and Zoe making it clear they’re not to be messed with.
Opening scenes show her in therapy with Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman) trying to prompt her to face it, talk about it and heal, but Merit stays silent. Too much for her to bear, so she walks out. Her Army buddy Zoe appears in the backseat poking fun as they kid each other about everything. Even when Merit goes to the cemetery to see the grave of a relative, Zoe is right there with an off-handed quip, “I can joke about the dead. These are my people.”
Morales and Martin-Green play so well off each other as they run the gamut of emotions from cute and playful, to depressed and scared trying to ignore or bury mental pain. It’s fun seeing them sing Rihanna’s “Umbrella” playing with an old iPod together in the car. Both machine repair specialists, Merit is also a dead shot. Zoe was the daredevil, always pulling Merit’s chain. But they always protected each other.
Zoe seems to pop up all the time; in the car, at home with Merit’s Mom. She goes for runs, just to get away so she can “talk” with her best bud. Merit’s Mom constantly calls, pushing her to go check on her Grand Dad, Dale (Ed Harris – Riff Raff, Central Intelligence, Love Lies Bleeding, so many more) who served in Viet Nam. He’s a widower living in his beloved ancestral lake house just wanting to be left alone. But Merit’s Mom says he’s showing signs of dementia and wants to put him in assisted living.
Merit’s relationship is tenuous at first. When Grand Dad pushes her away, she goes to a bar in town and meets Alex, (Utkarsh Ambudkar – Pitch Perfect, Ghosts, Free Guy, Tick Tick Boom). He happens to run the local assisted living facility. They strike up a friendship especially after he is surprised by her marksmanship playing a video game she says she’s never played. Ambudkar gets to show off his comedic acting finding they have some family situations in common.
Slowly Merit and her grandfather begin to repair their relationship, reminiscing over old times when she was young. Will that love and connection save them with whatever comes next for Dale and Merit?
Zoe is always a presence. She was a risk taker who had the guts to pull stunts and Morales plays caustic and funny perfectly in a particularly serious scene where that helped take the edge off the stress in a war zone. But what happened next left Merit too traumatized to face it.
Hausman-Stokes has to walk the fine line between maudlin and overly-sentimental which he manages with the smart and sarcastic Zoe playing off her sad and devoted friend, Merit. It’s aimed at capturing the unique, intense relationships welded on battlefields and then translating the feelings of loss and hopelessness soldiers experience on their return home. Morales and Martin-Green deliver the ups and downs of friendship, family, love, grief and PTSD without losing the ability to engage and entertain. You should make Zoe your friend, too.
Briarcliff Entertainment 1 Hour 38 Minutes R
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