Another emotional film that deals with PTSD.

Last year, we had “My Dead Friend Zoe,” which used a comic relief ghost to help a PTSD-stricken soldier go through her pathos. And this year, we have “Sheepdog,” which use no comic relief characters, but knows how to deal with former soldiers who have made bad choices, but are given a second chance at life. The movie also acknowledges that not everyone is so lucky-some of them have to be discharged, others have killed themselves, and others have emotionally lost their loved ones. And therefore, this movie is an emotional roller coaster.

We begin with a former gunnery sergeant and ex-convict being released after 30 years in a life sentence and his son-in-law-a former combat vet who has fallen on hard times with booze, drugs and fights. The ex-convict is Whitney St. Germain (Vondie Curtis-Hall) and he reunites with the troubled Calvin Cole (Steven Grayhm, also the writer and director), when the old man is lying on his porch and looking for his nurse daughter Alice (Lilli Cooper from”Hazbin Hotel” and the Broadway production of “Spring Awakening”), whom Calvin was married to.

As punishment for assaulting a former hockey teammate of his, he’s sentenced to a 60-day rehabilitation sentence with the PSTD rehabilitation program hosted by Dr. Alicia Knox (Virginia Madsen). Bear in mind, she’s a combat specialist in training and this would be her first day on the job. Which is why she would bring homemade muffins, and why she would have some mixed reactions from her superiors. But she knows how to do her job, especially with Calvin.

This is the same rehab where Alice currently works at, and neither she nor the facility wants Whitney to visit. For one thing, he’s discharged, and there are reasons why he was in jail. And he wasn’t the bad guy in the first place.

The story also shows that these two have lost loved ones in their lives, either by a bad decision or in combat. The respective therapy sessions with Whitney and Alice are supposed to help Calvin deal with his pathos as a war hero and a father. And the estranged relationships he’s given are filled with dialogue that helps bring out their emotions, instead of the obligatory screaming.

“White Chicks” fans (and I’m not one of them) might remember him as Russ in that movie, some might see him in TV guest roles on “Smallville” or “Criminal Minds,” and some might know him as the director and star of the folk horror film “The Secret of Sinchanee.” But for those of you who haven’t heard of Grayhm, you might be surprised at how he has a voice in “Sheepdog.” He deals with the topics with a heavy hand, and never exploits them for entertainment purposes.

I’ve read an article on “Behind the Lines” about how the making this movie was a 14-year-old journey for him. You can start with the title “Sheepdog,” which was a metaphor taken from Lt. Col. Dave Grossman’s book “On Combat,”and suggests that sheepdogs run toward the danger to protect others. Grayhm’s car broke down and was picked up by a driver who was recently out of the military and told him how his life was like ever since. And that passenger took the context out of the confession. And he has volunteered at the Detroit VA Medical Center, where he observed patients going through treatment.

Grayhm is also generous enough to allow the supporting work from Curtis-Hall, Cooper, and Madsen to share their screen time and help his character deal with his own pathos. And I especially admire the long speech the father-in-law gives him after a small fight scene at his house. “Sheepdog” might not be an easy film to watch, but it is a well-acted and gripping depiction of life after combat. And it tells it like it is.