‘You Don’t Have To Be A Veteran To Tell A Veteran’s Story;’ 'My Dead Friend Zoe’s' Director Talks About The Importance Of Proper PTSD Representation

Cinema Blend

When it comes to crafting movies about the lives of veterans of war, it can take a lot of effort to make sure that the story is told in a meaningful and accurate manner. "My Dead Friend Zoe," a 2025 movie release from feature debut director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, has received critical praise across the board for its emotional and authentic portrayal of PTSD. When asked what it takes to write a story that perfectly captures the essence of soldier life – both before and after – his tale was inspiring to me.  Hausmann-Stokes first formed the idea for "My Dead Friend Zoe" as a short film (titled "Merit x Zoe"). While the director himself is a veteran, when I asked what it took to create a movie like this, he said that you "don't need to be a veteran" to actually tell a story about war. However, there is one key thing you must do.

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00:00I think it's to tell stories about the military and veterans is no different than telling a story about anybody else

00:06You just have to involve those people. I don't think that you have to be a veteran to tell a veteran story

00:11I don't think you have to have served in the military to tell a military story

00:14But I do think you need to to talk with those people and surround your film with those people

00:18And so we got one veteran for free me

00:22You know as the writer director of the film and so the script itself kind of started off a bit as a manifesto or

00:28Autobiography, but then we had a lot of a lot of veterans in the cast

00:33We had a 90% real cast and Sonequa and Natalie were able to kind of osmosis from those folks

00:38They also did a ton of research and so

00:41Yeah, I think I think stories can can be as Sonequa says the more specific the more universal they are

00:47So I'm glad that you enjoyed it and related to it

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