My quick rating – 6.5/10. Very rarely have I seen a film come along that makes you question what’s going on inside the minds of animals, and Good Boy takes that concept to unsettling depths. Directed by Ben Leonberg, this supernatural drama follows Indy, a loyal dog who moves to a rural home with his owner, only to face unseen horrors lurking in the shadows. As the supernatural entities close in, it’s Indy—not the humans—who becomes the story’s emotional and heroic core.
For a trained animal, Indy the dog delivers a performance that puts most human actors to shame. He expresses fear, sadness, loyalty, and bravery with nothing more than subtle gestures, expressive eyes, and finely tuned body language. It’s no exaggeration to say this pooch deserves a Best Actor nomination. We often take for granted that dogs can sense death, illness, and emotion—but this film explores what that might mean to them. Imagine perceiving mortality itself; Good Boy turns that concept into a quiet nightmare, framed through the eyes (and nose) of man’s best friend.
Leonberg’s direction is nothing short of ingenious. He reportedly spent over 400 days across three years capturing Indy‘s performance with unparalleled realism. Nearly every shot is from the dog’s point of view, achieved by keeping the camera close to ground level—making the human world seem enormous, alien, and threatening. That choice pays off brilliantly, immersing us in a perspective that’s both intimate and terrifying. The decision to obscure human faces amplifies that immersion, forcing the viewer to emotionally anchor themselves to Indy’s experience.
The film’s supernatural angle, while not groundbreaking in plot, blends traditional haunted-house tension with an existential twist: how does an animal perceive evil? The scares are measured but effective—fleeting shadows, eerie sounds, and the slow realization that Indy may be seeing what his human cannot. The editing and effects are crisp, with moments of haunting imagery that linger just long enough to crawl under your skin.
Larry Fessenden’s involvement lends the film an indie-horror credibility, grounding its more experimental edges in something familiar for genre fans. But Good Boy isn’t just another ghost story—it’s a haunting, deeply original study of loyalty and fear through a non-human lens. Indy’s journey is emotional, sometimes heart-wrenching, and above all, believable. You genuinely feel his confusion, his courage, and his love.
Good Boy is a small, strange, and beautiful film about a dog who sees too much of the darkness we ignore. It’s eerie, emotional, and unforgettable—proof that sometimes, the bravest souls in horror don’t have to speak at all. (Keeping it spoiler-free, but I think my hints in the review say what I believe was really going on in this flick)
