A great conceit meets adequate execution in Good Boy—a horror movie from a dog’s point of view. When “Indy” (played by director Ben Leonberg’s dog, with reportedly no CGI assistance) accompanies his caretaker Todd (Shane Jensen, whose face we never fully see) to the isolated country home of Todd’s late grandfather, all sorts of unusual things begin to happen. The cough bedeviling Todd gets much worse; Indy hears yelping (canine? human?) from the basement; and he sees strange forms in the woods outside. Leonberg employs an effective lo-fi approach: low-angle shots to mimic Indy’s perspective; a mise en scene that purposely incorporates our awareness of off-screen space (a la found footage classics such as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity); and intentionally murky lighting that conjures unsettling shapes. Good Boy is a harrowing experience for dog lovers—or possibly anyone who’s noticed an animal staring at something you can’t quite perceive—yet the movie never quite unearths the subterranean chills of the most potent horror. (It’s more about the potentially explicable mystery of Todd’s illness than any sort of larger, existential terror.) Bonus points to Leonberg, however, for casting indie horror legend Larry Fessenden (Blackout) as Todd’s grandfather in brief, occasional flashbacks.
(12/2/2025)
