Dear Zoe

Based on the 2004 novel of the same name by writer Philip Beard, Dear Zoe follows Tess (Sadie Sink), a teenager who is struggling to cope with the death of her half-sister in a car accident on 9/11. The collective trauma strains her relationship with her family, and when she suspects her mother Elly (Jessica Capshaw) is having an affair, Tess decides to move in with her estranged father, Nick (Theo Rossi). While living with him, Tess meets his neighbour, Jimmy (Kweku Collins), who helps her deal with her family issues and begin the process of healing.

At least, that’s what the premise is on paper. In practice, Dear Zoe finds itself following several different tangents, none of which are particularly interesting, nor do they go anywhere. This leaves the film feeling distinctly unfocused, making for a frustrating and tiresome experience that constantly tries to tug at the heartstrings but can’t commit to its story beats for long enough to do so. The central hook feels almost vestigial in the bigger picture of the storytelling, with none of the various subplots feeding back into the core themes of the piece in any meaningful ways – and many of these diversions don’t even have satisfying conclusions to justify their presence in the film.

This isn’t helped by the weak scripting, as all of the characters feel very two-dimensional. Attempts to create drama fall flat as a result; without strong characterisation to drive compelling conflict, all of Dear Zoe’s interactions feel like they were pulled out of thin air. The actors try their best to prop up the lacklustre script with strong emotional performances, but that hard work can only go so far to help a narrative that doesn’t know what it wants to do with itself.

Overall, Dear Zoe is a film that wants desperately to be gripping and complex but neglects to commit to any one idea, trying instead to be several things at once and compromising all of them. Structurally it is meandering and directionless, compounded by the dull writing that relies on cheap emotional tricks to try and inspire emotion in its audience in lieu of strong character dynamics or an engaging narrative. In its attempts to be multiple stories simultaneously, Dear Zoe ends up barely feeling like a story at all.

Umar Ali

Dear Zoe is released digitally on demand on 7^th October 2022.

Watch the trailer for Dear Zoe here: