Arielle Friedman, Ben Leonberg, film festivals, Good Boy, horror, Indy, Larry Fessenden, movies, reviews, Shane Jensen, Stuart Rudin, SXSW, SXSW Film and TV Festival, SXSW Film Festival
October 6, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Ben Leonberg
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the horror film “Good Boy” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: Against the warnings of his sister, a man moves into an abandoned house previously owned by their deceased grandfather, and strange things start happening, as observed by the man’s loyal dog.
Culture Audience: “Good Boy” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of uncomplicated horror movies that are effectively scary on low budgets.
“Good Boy” is an impressive example of a horror movie that does a lot with a low budget. This simple story, which is told from a loyal dog’s perspective, can get a bit repetitive with haunted house scares, but it skillfully manages to maintain suspense. And at 73 minutes long, “Good Boy” doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a thriller that does what it needs to do in the right amount of time.
Directed by Ben Leonberg, “Good Boy” was co-written by Leonberg and Alex Cannon. Leonberg is also the cinematographer for “Good Boy,” which is his feature-film directorial debut. “Good Boy” had it world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. The movie takes place in an unnamed U.S. city. “Good Boy” was actually filmed in New Jersey, partially in Leonberg’s own home.
This “Good Boy” horror movie should not be confused with the 2020 “Good Boy” feature film that was part of Blumhouse’s “Into the Dark” anthology series on Hulu. Both are horror movies where a dog is the main character but the dog in the “Into the Dark” version of “Good Boy” is the a homicidal villain. It’s established early on in 2025’s “Good Boy” (and shown in the movie’s trailer) that the dog is the heroic protagonist.
Although the specific year of 2025’s “Good Boy” story is not mentioned in the movie, visual clues (such as the types of phones being used) indicate that the movie takes place in the mid-2020s. However, the house that’s at the center of the film is stuck in the 1980s, such as having a television and VCR that’s from the 1980s. The house, which is suspected of being haunted, has been abandoned for years until the grandson of the previous owner moves into the house with his male Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever dog named Indy. (The dog is actually Leonberg’s own dog, whose name is also Indy.)
“Good Boy,” which is told from Indy’s point of view, begins by showing Indy waking up to the sound of an iPhone ringing, as blood is dripping on the phone. Indy’s owner Todd (played by Shane Jensen) is unconscious nearby. Todd’s sister Vera (played by Arielle Friedman) is calling Todd and comes over to his place when Todd doesn’t answer the phone and doesn’t return her messages. Vera is alarmed to see Todd unconscious and calls for medical help.
It’s not directly said out loud, but Todd was unconscious because he attempted suicide. He spends an unnamed amount of time in a hospital and is eventually discharged. Todd decides to leave his home in the city to live with Indy in a dilapidated house in a remote wooded area. This house used to be owned by the unnamed grandfather (played by Larry Fessenden) of Todd and Vera.
This grandfather, who is seen in home video footage, had some type of mental and physical breakdown and was found dead. Vera is convinced that the house is haunted, so she begs Todd not to move into the house. Todd thinks that Vera is overreacting and being unreasonable.
But sure enough, strange things starts happening after Todd moves into the house. He starts having inexplicable nosebleeds. Indy sees a shadowy figure that seems to be lurking around. And one night, Indy sees a dog that looks exactly like Indy and follows this look-alike dog upstairs.
“Good Boy” deliberately obscures the faces of the human characters for most of the time that the people are on screen. It’s a clever technique for viewers to focus on and remember that most of the facial expressions in the movie are from the dog. There are some jump scares that turn out to be false alarms. But fortunately, these false alarms are few and far in between.
Because Todd is living in isolation, the vast majority of the screen time is about showing what happens to Todd and Indy. Todd treats Indy well, but as Todd’s physical condition starts to deteriorate, he becomes impatient with Indy. Todd has a few brief interactions with a hunter neighbor named Richard (played by Stuart Rudin), who knew Todd’s grandfather. Indy has some nightmares, but the movie suggests that this dog might have psychic abilities.
“Good Boy” has adequate acting from the humans, but the movie’s biggest strengths or how well Indy is made into a compelling character, as well as good use of score music, cinematography and visual effects to immerse viewers into the foreboding atmosphere. It’s worth noting that after the end credits, there’s a featurette, narrated by Leonberg, where he gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Good Boy” (which was filmed over a four-year period) that gives an informative explanation of how he and the other filmmakers were able to make the most out of Indy’s facial expressions and actions. “Good Boy” is a promising feature-film debut from Leonberg and is proof that a horror movie with a nice dog as the main character really can be scary.
Independent Film Company and Shudder released “Good Boy” in U.S. cinemas on October 3, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on October 24, 2025. Shudder will premiere “Good Boy” on November 21, 2025.