Good Boy (2025)
Directed by: Ben Leonberg
Premise: A dog (Indy) and his owner (Shane Jensen) move to a rural home. The dog senses supernatural phenomena around the house.
What Works: Good Boy is fundamentally a haunted house story but it distinguishes itself with an unusual approach. The entire movie unfolds from the point of view of a dog. Anyone who has spent time with a dog or cat knows that they respond to stimuli that human beings don’t notice. This movie capitalizes on that idea, supposing that the dog is reacting to a supernatural presence. It’s extraordinarily well done and the filmmakers commit to the gimmick. The camera is placed at the dog’s level and the action plays out from his point of view. The performance that the filmmakers have gotten from this dog is extraordinary. Hollywood films tend to humanize dogs. The filmmakers acknowledge this animal’s intelligence and capacity for emotion but without anthropomorphizing him. It’s an unusual achievement in dramatic empathy. Good Boy excels as a haunted house picture. The lighting is naturalistic but the dark scenes are lit enough for viewers to see the action. The camera movement and the blocking of the action maximize the suspense. Good Boy has a frightening atmosphere but like a lot of haunted house movies this is also a mystery. The pacing is excellent and the filmmakers use long takes and silence effectively. Although Good Boy puts the dog in some peril, viewers who are sensitive to animals ought to find that the movie will work for them. It smartly reverses the Old Yeller scenario and plays on the loyalty that dogs have for their caretakers.
What Doesn’t: Good Boy only runs seventy-two minutes and perhaps as a way of inflating the running time the filmmakers include a short making-of segment in the end credits. Seeing this explanation of how Good Boy was made immediately after watching it disrupts the experience. There is some value to these behind-the-scenes featurettes but placing that explanation here does not allow the viewer to sit with what they’ve seen and enjoy the illusion.
Bottom Line: Good Boy is not only an excellent horror film but it’s also an extraordinary piece of filmmaking. It’s a good spooky haunted house movie that has an equally affecting emotional angle.
Episode: #1070 (October 26, 2025)