Good Boy Review (2025)
Horror movie Good Boy is told from a dog’s perspective and proposes a fascinating question: what would the world look like if one ran entirely on instinct? This is true of our canine protagonist, played by the utterly loveable Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever Indy, who doesn’t act with a human conscience but is still plugged into the realities of the environment around him. But how does one perceive those realities if one can’t understand the nuances, and as a result, how does one approach potential threats?
Reducing the recognisable human world to a mere abstraction is a terrific set-up for mining terror – after all, as H.P. Lovecraft once said, there’s no stronger fear than that of the unknown. Good Boy is directed with verve, energy and no small amount of empathy by Ben Leonberg, and the fact that the director’s surname is a hair’s breadth away from the name of an actual dog breed is surely a coincidence. Think of it as “Pawanormal Activity” and you’re in the right ballpark.
The tone is set from the get-go with a chilling opening sequence that derives suspense from an intentional lack of information. We’re drawn into the unique POV of our canine hero (Indy playing himself) as he awakens on the couch next to his owner, only to become aware of some shadowy spectral thing in the corner. This is, however, overshadowed by the dog’s owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), suffering some kind of undisclosed health crisis that prompts the intervention of his sister (Arielle Friedman).
Akin to Steven Spielberg’s approach in E.T., director Leonberg sets the camera lower down at the height of the dog himself to better align us with his situation. Leonberg also, for the most part, masks the faces of the human players, crafting a greater sense of disorientation as Indy’s loyalty to Todd is confused by the myriad chaos. Following a sweet-natured title montage, which runs through the richly emotional bond between man and dog, we’ve already been presented with a heady mixture of brewing terror and wholesome sentiment, principles that will underline the rest of the movie.
Further juicing the mixture is the fact that Indy is Leonberg’s dog in real life. One wonders how challenging it was for Leonberg to direct his four-legged friend in the film’s more harrowing sequences – full credit to the dog wranglers on set for eliciting an animal performance of genuine conviction and depth. Indy’s terror and love resonate more strongly than many of his human counterparts in Hollywood.
Health scare apparently over, Todd retreats to his deceased grandfather’s forbiddingly remote cabin in the woods, with Indy in tow. Aside from a temperamental generator and the standard-issue shrouded furniture, Indy senses something else is going on, from a shadowy wraith in the attic to bizarre visions of the grandfather’s former dog, an equally devoted golden retriever who may or may not have expired in sticky circumstances. Has the menace from the opening scene followed them to the new location, and is it about to compromise the relationship between man and his best friend?
2025 has been an exceptionally strong year for the horror genre (Sinners, Weapons, Bring Her Back, et al), yet Good Boy stands apart for its subjective viewpoint. There have been plenty of films about dogs (Homeward Bound) and plenty of horror movies likewise (Cujo). But to put us in a dog’s paws, directly? That’s a smart move.
Sounds are minutely amplified to cue us into Indy’s wariness and eventual terror, and the doggie-friendly limitations of the frame are deployed effectively to conceal hidden monsters. The piercing close-ups of Indy’s wide-eyed stare convey such a potent sense of fear that one’s hackles really do go up.
For all the innovation in the film’s visuals and emotional tone, it’s perhaps a shame that the narrative is more mechanical. Once the movie plays its hand and goes on the front foot with spectral creatures, it threatens to devolve into a series of noisy set pieces. A more restrained and ambiguous tone in the second half may have served it better, better aligning us with Indy’s complete lack of understanding as to what’s happening.
Even so, it’s a spine-tingling, entertaining and even moving watch, sporting one of the year’s most unassailable heroes. Good Boy won’t necessarily convert dog atheists – in fact, it might outright baffle them – but it’ll certainly delight horror fans who are seeking a unique reprieve from stale genre fare.
★★★★
In UK cinemas October 10th 2025 / Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman / Dir: Ben Leonberg / Vertigo Releasing /15
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