Zoe.Misplaced

I watched Zoe.Misplaced pretty much just because I wanted to have at least one review on this site for each letter of the alphabet. Zoe.Misplaced is the only WLW movie I can find whose English title starts with Z. Given that my expectations for this movie amounted to nothing more than it being a WLW movies whose title started with Z, Zoe.Misplaced exceeded my expectations.

Zoe.Misplaced is about a lesbian named Zoe. Zoe is funny but awkward and has trouble dating because she doesn’t understand the appeal of sex if it’s not with someone who you already know well. Zoe is close to her roommate Coal but their relationship disintegrates as Zoe pursues Coal’s ex-girlfriend, Nat. While Zoe gets more wrapped up in her new relationship with Nat, she ends up alienating everyone else around her. Also, as it turns out, Nat is kinda shitty.

Zoe.Misplaced is clearly a micro-budget film and I commend it for doing the best the could with what they have. To clarify, I don’t mean that in a patronizing way. While you can tell that the cameras they have are not as expensive as they would be in a hollywood movie, what Zoe.Misplaced does have is good directing and cinematography. The lighting was good enough that I actually made note of how well done the lighting was. Yeah, it’s that good.

Additionally, Zoe.Misplaced does its utmost to make your forget about its small budget by having snappy dialogue and engaging characters. It works, mostly. I really like Zoe as a character and I found the jokes funny. This is a well-written story with good dialogue. Does it need to be two full hours? Maybe not. Still, this is a film that had a script that clearly went through draft after draft to make it perfect before they committed it to film and I appreciate that.

I almost feel like I can’t accurately review Zoe.Misplaced because it hits a little too close to home. Zoe is a character who I related to really, really strongly. Her tendency to overthink which can lead to insightful observations, funny jokes but also total awkwardness is something I found familiar and maybe wish I didn’t. Admittedly, maybe everyone would feel this way about Zoe.Misplaced. Maybe it’s just a really good movie with a lead character it’s easy to project yourself onto. But I think this might be a personal thing. Either way, I commend this film on relating to me, personally.

My major critique is that as the movie progresses, Zoe.Misplaced goes from being a dramedy to more of a straight-up drama. Humour is much rarer in the second half of the movie. I think that’s a mistake. What first drew me into the film was the humour. I found Zoe as a character and Zoe as a film to have so much personality based around humour. That appealed to me. When the film lost this element, I did lose an amount of interest. While I could still see that this was an objectively strong film, my attention did begin to waver more.

Zoe.Misplaced displays an incredible amount of potential and talent from its writer, director and actors. The film does have faults that mostly tie back to it being a low-budget feature and directorial debut. However, I would love to see what writer/director Mekelle Mills does in future. Mills has created a really solid first feature with relatable characters, strong acting and really good lighting. This is someone who should be given a project with a bigger budget given how competent they’ve proven themselves on a film that has no budget.

Overall rating: 5.0/10

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