Many of us have heard stories of domestic animals and their uncanny perceptions. The cat in a nursing home or hospice who sits on the bed of the next patient to pass away. The story of dogs knowing when arguments will break out between couples. Many stories have made their way into urban legend, but owners of dogs and cats often still wonder what their furry friends are looking at in the corner of a room or why they’re barking at what appears to be nothing. Ben Leonberg’s horror film Good Boy uses that mystery and human unease to create a bold vision of a haunted house tale from the perspective of the loyal canine trying to understand its own place as well as his human’s in the unnatural order.
Indy (played by Ben Leonberg and producer Kari Fischer’s own dog) adores Todd (Shane Jensen) and has been especially close to him since his lung illness. Todd decides to give up his city apartment after a stay in hospital and much to his sister Vera’s (Arielle Friedman) surprise decides to stay at his deceased grandfather’s (Larry Fessenden) rural property in New Jersey. She argues that the place is haunted and that he hated their grandfather. Why would Todd decide to live in such an isolated and miserable place which in her estimation (and her grandfather’s) contributed to his death? Perhaps Todd believes there is no such thing as ghosts, but Indy’s perception is very different. There is something alive and dead in the house and he can see, hear, and smell it. What he can’t do is pass on his experiences to Todd who is slowly becoming engulfed by a poison both external and internal.
Something is very wrong with the house where six generations of Todd’s family lived and many passed away young. Bucolic as the forest is around the “cabin in the woods” is, it is filled with dangers for Indy such as fox traps and a hunting neighbour. Other dogs knew it too, with only Bandit (played by Max) staying with Todd’s grandfather when others ran away. With both the house and the woods being “wrong”— emphasised by the house spluttering to life or closing into darkness depending on the insufficient generator or the dangerous wiring in the seemingly unending basement—the only place Indy can find comfort is in the arms of Todd who is also withdrawing from him. Even without ghostly warnings from another dog and the increasingly present dark shape, Indy’s ability to rescue Todd from a morbid inevitability is emotionally and keenly felt.
Ben Leonberg and co-writer Alex Cannon’s script is a relatively simple idea remarkably fleshed out into a dog’s-eye view of the tangible and intangible. To stage a ghost story from the perspective of an innocent who is trapped by the decisions of his human in irrational milieu—the irrational actions of a human and the irrational logic of the supernatural—is uniquely claustrophobic. The audience experiences several layers of fear as we worry for the very good boy of the title as much as we do for the often-obscured human he is trying to protect.
As much as Wade Grebnoel’s incredible cinematography and framing brings Good Boy to life and sets the perspective, it is Indy’s lead performance which completely sells both the concept and the heartrending earnestness of the film. The beautiful Duck Toller Retriever is incredibly expressive with his deep eyes searching for Todd and staring into the camera in a manner that makes him the Daniel Dog-Lewis of film performing pooches. We are naturally inclined to feel protective of domestic animals on screen and Ben Leonberg uses that inclination by nudging it into a compelling and hair-raising immersive experience by providing us with a brilliant canine star.
Good Boy is a brilliant horror film which opens itself up to a multiplicity of readings on a metaphorical level and provides an elemental and emphatic experience of empathy with its canine protagonist. May it find a following as loyal as Indy is to Todd.
Director: Ben Leonberg
Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman
Writers: Alex Cannon, Ben Leonberg
Producers: Kari Fischer, Ben Leonberg
Composer: Sam Boasae-Miller
Good Boy is in Australian cinemas from 2 October 2025 and will appear in New Zealand cinemas from 9 October 2025. Visit MonsterFest.com.au for more information.
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