I had mixed feelings about watching Good Boy. On one hand, I’d heard nothing but good things about this off-kiltered horror entry even before its debut at the 2025 South by Southwest Film Festival in March and was eagerly waiting my own chance to view. On the flipside the idea of watching the film about a seriously-ill wheezing man and his faithful canine was somewhat affected by my own battle with a respiratory infection through September and October and the sudden loss of my own dog, Finn – a double-whammy that laid me low for over an entire month.
Firstly, I’m going to unapologetically spoil it. No, the dog doesn’t die.
Secondly, the secret of a good horror production is one that masterfully embraces the accepted rules and executes them with knowing style or one that defies its constraints and does something different within the borders of the genre. The Exorcist is the grand-daddy for a reason; The Haunting of Hill House mini-series is a blueprint of tension-building. The Blair Witch Project isn’t the scariest film ever made, but is unnerving and held the attention because it was the first of a new wave in the modern found-footage format. Scream‘s self-awareness subverted the rules.
Good Boy‘s ‘hook’ is that it tells the haunting tale (tail?) from a dog’s point of view which sounds hokey but actually allows a traditional horror outing to have a fresh vibe that immediately invests the audience in the ‘hero’s’ survival. It certainly works as a twist, though for those looking for a deeper ‘story’, the narrative itself is actually quite slight – there really isn’t a progression, more a set of experiences within and around the house. This is director Ben Leonberg’s first feature film after a series of successful shorts and to that extent, even at only 72 minutes of running time, it’s true to say that this also feels like a film that might have worked even better kept on a shorter lead.
Todd (Shane Jensen), tired with long-lasting, debilitating hospital treatments decides to forego another round of appointments and, instead, heads back to the isolated cabin that was the home of his grandfather. It’s a home with a lot of memories, not all of them good and Todd’s sister Vera (Arielle Friedman) has valid concerns about the move which she repeats many times down the phone. But Todd – angry with life and his condition – wants the isolation and his dog Indy is the only company he’s willing to tolerate. It’s the loyal Indy – intuitively aware of his owner’s fragility – that immediately senses something ‘off’ about the cabin and another presence… and one that is not necessarily benevolent. There’s also the possibility of more than one ‘other’, given that Todd’s grandfather also had a faithful dog that may not have fully departed.
Good Boy doesn’t reinvent the wheel nor does it up-end the horror genre, but though it could have had just a little more meat on the narrative bone to make it truly memorable, it proves an interesting visually-led diversion, more walkies than talkies and feels like both a successful passion project and a calling-card to bigger things for Leonberg…
Smartly, the human aspects of the film may be important, but are kept off-centre, partly off-frame or strategically out of focus – there are no big names here, but you’d be hard to recognise the actors if you passed them on the street. There’s scattered dialogue throughout, but it’s kept to a minimum – even Indy’s barks are few and far between. Instead, the camera almost consistently centres on Indy and what he sees and experiences. There are some scenes where that seems an affectation, a little distracting in itself, but for the most part it keeps our attention on the canine which is the whole point… and Indy himself doesn’t disappoint.
There’s no doubt that Indy is the star, a beautiful rusty-coloured Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, who holds the screen throughout and whose face has more range than some human actors. Filmed over a number of years to get things just right, there’s something about seeing shadowy threats through the lower angles and wide-eyes of the faithful companion in just such a way that there’s some common-ground with the human protagonists we’re used to but enough to keep us off-kilter with something different in the mix. if every dog has its day, today is Indy’s.
The horror genre is having a decent year with some fresh takes and strong, new styles. Good Boy doesn’t reinvent the wheel nor does it up-end the horror genre, but though it could have had just a little more meat on the narrative bone to make it truly memorable, it proves an interesting visually-led diversion, more walkies than talkies and feels like both a successful passion project and a calling-card to bigger things for Leonberg.
Good Boy is now in cinemas, from Vertigo Releasing in the UK and US…
- Story8
- Acting9
- Production Design / VFX8
