GOOD BOY

Director
Ben Leonberg

Starring
Indy
Shane Jensen
Arielle Friedman

To combat a chronic illness, Todd [Jensen] leaves his New York City life and heads to his grandfather’s vacant house in the countryside. And along with him is his eternally loyal dog, Indy. Through brief conversations and interactions, we learn that Todd believes isolation will help him, while his sister Vera [Friedman] tries to stay part of his life, without triggering or upsetting him. But all the while, Indy roams the house and is haunted by visions of shapes in the corners of darkened rooms, and the horror that awaits in the basement.

This is a movie that lives and dies on its technical achievements and ambition. It is, in all honesty, a gimmick film. But the gimmick is so well executed and equal parts charming and gut-wrenchingly uncomfortable, that it excels. That said, much like a perfectly de-aged CGI face, it does unintentionally take you out of the film. By which I mean, you are so desperately and acutely analysing how this movie was made and the various lengths to achieve certain shots, that it can be distracting. Case in point, for obvious reasons it’s uniquely shot from the ground up. The threat itself is presented without entire coherence. And it almost entirely avoids human faces, as a workaround for giving the dog the necessary cues/direction, and keeping the plot going without repeatedly flubbing lines.

In essence, Good Boy is an interesting use of the unreliable narrator. Whereas with a human-driven story, we have to anchor ourselves in logic and functional reasoning. But with a dog you can gloss over some of the inconsistencies as the projection of a sense of dread, as much as a malevolent entity that is stalking through the house. Subsequently, this movie is at its strongest, when it’s a combination of haunted house horror, and second-hand remembered trauma. One of the best examples of this is when Indy finds an old neckerchief (belonging to Todd’s grandfather’s dog) and by sniffing it, he is able to get a loose sense of events that led up to something climactic. We don’t know for certain that any of this has taken place, simply that the dog has picked up a worrying scent; and how that’s presented to us is incredibly unique.

Speaking of which, I cannot imagine a single credible review for this movie that overlooks the outstanding training and receptiveness of Indy the dog. Yanking the heartstrings of any pet-owner or animal lover, baffling anyone who has worked on any form of creative medium, and putting so many other movies to shame. Yeah, Superman has a CGI Krypto, yeah, the dogs from Anatomy Of A Fall and The Thing have given genuine scene-stealing performances. But to hold your attention and captivate, as well as push the narrative in such a keenly convincing way, is astonishing.

Unfortunately, once you get past the novelty of “oh it’s all from the dog’s point of view” the film does struggle to maintain momentum a bit. Granted, it wisely opts for an extremely slow burn build that takes up the majority of the very short runtime, but there’s only so many setups, shots, and scenarios you can employ with a chamber piece that has both hands tied behind its back. That said, horror should never outstay its welcome and what has been achieved over the course of just over an hour should be praised for its effort and aspiration. Especially when, in lieu of a lot of dialogue, the score has to do a lot of the heavy lifting, and excels magnificently.

But for all the tension and build-up, Good Boy is a remarkably pedestrian and straightforward experience that will probably frustrate a great many horror fans who are hoping and expecting for out-and-out terror and chills. Yes, the originality of its framing and giving us something outside the familiar more than make up for any shortcomings, but it never truly steps outside of “unsettling” territory into “iconic horror that stays with you forever.”

Ultimately, this is a movie of perspective. Horror always preys on helplessness and the unknown, but here we, as the audience, know more than the central actor does. And as such it makes his journey that much more frightening and heartbreaking, and the whole experience a fresh, worthwhile gemstone, in a genre packed with mediocrity and lazy cliches.

Release Date:
10 October 2025

The Scene To Look Out For:
**Spoilers throughout**
Several clues and revelations are leaked throughout the story that give you a clear impression of what has transpired both before and during Todd and Indy’s arrival. And yes, there will no doubt be those who simply didn’t get it and need to be told explicitly. But I think, with the way the story concludes (and thank God they didn’t opt for a truly crushing finale), there’s something both poetic and mythological about a dog chasing down death and descending into the depths of Hades to save his master’s soul. It’s simple and primal and honest. Even if it’s fantastical and veers into the realms of the absurd. You’ve just spent over an hour convincing me this is the most loyal of companions, you don’t have to convince me he would give up everything to save Todd. I’m well aware.

Notable Characters:
There are only a handful of human elements. It goes without saying that Todd is a character probably found in the edit. We have the idea of who he is and how he interacts but the line delivery is purely ADR (as far as I can tell) and that requires a skillset in its own right that’s very difficult to hone.

Highlighted Quote:
“You’d think old house in the woods sounds cosy.”

In A Few Words:
“A unique and noteworthy experience, if not as unerring as one would like.”

Total Score: 3/5

Linked Reviews

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 POSSUM