Sonequa Martin-Green – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SHE DANCES (Tribeca 2025) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

June 4, 2025June 6, 2025 Valerie Kalfrin Ashley Zahn, Ethan Hawke, Henry Zahn, Rick Gomez, Rosemarie DeWitt, She Dances, Sonequa Martin-Green, Steve Zahn, Tribeca 2025

The dramedy She Dances is a tender gem, a father-daughter duet with subtly affecting performances from Steve Zahn and his daughter, Ashley Zahn, in her feature debut. Director Rick Gomez, cinematographer David Morrison and editor Copy Toland make creative use of split screens to show how father and daughter are more alike than they realize, even when they’re apart, whether microwaving dinner to watching home movies. (The Zahns’ real-life footage of their kids when they were small adds a heartfelt touch.) The emotion and verve of the dance performances comes across even in wide shots, yet the film also sits with quieter moments.

Reviews

MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE – Review by T.J. Callahan

March 3, 2025March 3, 2025 T. J. Callahan Morgan Freeman, My Dead Friend Zoe, Sonequa Martin-Green

PTSD can be funny…at least in the new dark comedy My Dead Friend Zoe. It’s a based on truth film about an Afghanistan war veteran who loses her platoon mate and best friend, and can’t shake the soldier’s spirit stateside. This is writer/director Kyle Hausman-Stokes story. It’s about the psychological effects of war, the power of friendship and navigating family dynamics…but he changes the main characters to women in the screenplay. My Dead Friend Zoe tackles issues that many like to sweep under the rug…how soldiers are treated, loss, healing, mental health, and all under the guise of a most unusual buddy movie.

Reviews

MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE – Review by Nadine Whitney

February 24, 2025March 1, 2025 Nadine Whitney ed harris, Gloria Ruben, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, Morgan Freeman, My Dead Friend Zoe, Natalie Morales, Sonequa Martin-Green

Kyle Hausmann-Stokes the director and one of the writers of My Dead Friend Zoe is himself an army veteran and has based the film on his, and other people’s, experiences with PTSD and survivor’s guilt. A sobering coda to the work proves that the wars conducted overseas are responsible for fewer fatalities than the extended war that continues when veterans return home and are unable to adjust to civilian living. Sonequa Martin-Green plays Merit Charles, an army specialist whose army buddy Zoe Ramirez (Natalie Morales) is dead and refuses to set Merit free from guilt over her loss. The film is a subtle, devastating, and sometimes comic examination of lingering trauma. My Dead Friend Zoe is a reminder that war doesn’t end for people once they get home no matter how much they, or general society, want it to. Everything changes and isolation and depression plague veterans for whom readjustment isn’t simple. With powerful and nuanced performances and a script that is devoid of didacticism, My Dead Friend Zoe is an incredibly important and moving piece of cinema.

Reviews

THE OUTSIDE STORY – Review by Maitland McDonagh

May 11, 2021May 19, 2021 Maitland McDonagh Brian Tyree Henry, Casimir Nozkowski, Maria Dizzia, Olivia Edward, Sonequa Martin-Green, Sunita Mani, the outside story

An gentle ensemble comedy-drama, The Outside Story is small movie with, yes, a big heart. And that’s a good thing. Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker Charles (Brian Tyree Henry) has been in a serious rut since he split up with his girlfriend, lawyer Isha (Sonequa Martin-Green), whose belongings–packed in boxes scattered around the brownstone apartment–serve as constant reminders of her absence.