The making of Lucky Milo.
Mr. Marcus collaborated with his parents, Donald Marcus and Lisa Milligan on making this documentary. The trio went on a 40-day, 40 interview cross-country trip to talk with Milo’s family, fellow Marines, and friends.
“Milo narrates his own story with such clarity and insight, my hope is that it will inspire people to take action where they might not have been motivated to before.”
Marine Lance Corporal Milo Imrie and local filmmaker Edmund Milligan Marcus had been close friends since childhood. When Milo killed himself in 2018, Marcus was compelled to tell the story of his extraordinary friend. Experimenting with the documentary format for the first time, Marcus, a narrative filmmaker, has delivered a film that is innovative, unique, and deeply personal.
Lucky Milo tells the story of Milo Imrie’s odyssey from childhood to joining the Marines, battling insurgents in Afghanistan, grappling with PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI), and finally searching for a cure for his emotional and spiritual suffering.
“Milo and I met at camp when we were 11 and became inseparable friends over the next five summers. As Milo joined the Marines and I became a filmmaker, we kept in touch. When Milo died in 2018, his father Gordon presented me with an extensive archive of Milo’s recordings, writings, and observations, hoping that it would spark a film project, which it immediately did.
As I worked on Milo’s story, it became increasingly clear that Milo's dynamic personality and the extreme urgency of this national crisis for veterans called for a different stylistic approach. Inspired by Milo’s passion for and use of media and culture references in his writings and daily life, we spliced in 700 media clips, movie snippets, cartoons, and YouTube phenomena with excerpts from Milo’s diaries and interviews with his friends, family, and fellow Marines in a uniquely rich brew of textures, emotions, technologies, media, and imagery.” —Edmund Milligan Marcus
Unlike the traditional stationary 2-camera interview setup, Lucky Milo employed a free-flowing, intimate single camera setup more typically used on narrative film sets. This allowed for a more organic interview environment, which helped imbue the footage with a palpable sense of intimacy, unusual for a documentary.
More Marines now die from suicide after returning home than are lost in combat.
On average, 20 veterans kill themselves every day in the United States (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs). Although there already exists a substantial canon of recent films focusing on the human cost of war, we hope that a film imprinted with Milo’s powerful intellect, unique imagination, and personal courage can fulfill his desire to impact the lives of others constructively.
Milo attended schools “for the gifted” in Manhattan and then in suburban Chicago. He was awarded a National Merit Letter of Commendation, took numerous AP classes, traveled widely in the US and Europe, and was an outstanding high school wrestler. He was virtually guaranteed admission to West Point and Annapolis and was characterized by many people we interviewed as one of the most intelligent people they’d ever met.
At 18, he could have gone to a top university, become an officer in the military, but having been galvanized by 9/11, he chose to serve in the Marines as a grunt. Milo documents the tragic fallout of his warfare experience in diaries and essays, which offer a unique insight into the veteran experience—and into the experiences of those struggling with suicidal impulses. With thousands of suicides each year, we must find real, actionable solutions. This film is dedicated to finding and publicizing them, with Milo as our guide. At times heartbreaking and harrowing, we hope this film will also bring a deeper understanding and hope.