Good Boy (2025) :: By Mickster

A special note to animal lovers: take tissues because if you are like me, you are going to need them. I made the mistake of not bringing tissues, and my poor t-shirt and jeans paid the price for that rookie mistake.

This movie is difficult to talk about without spoiling it, so I will be as careful as possible. Indy is the faithful and loving dog to Todd (Shane Jensen-voice), his human. Indy would do anything to protect Todd from whatever forces threatening him. Indy is the main character, and the audience sees things from his perspective. The dialogue is kept to a minimum in Good Boy because our protagonist is a dog. The dialogue the audience does receive is to the side; many conversations are on the phone between Todd and his sister, Vera (Arielle Friedman-voice). The movie begins with a sweet montage of Indy as a pup, and Indy’s blooming relationship with Todd. Early on, Todd decides to take Indy to his deceased grandpa’s home out in the middle of nowhere, where it seems to be perpetually raining. Indy, even before they get to the house, notices a dark, shadowy figure outside the car; this is when Todd is opening the gate to the property. This is just the beginning of Indy’s experiences with strange shadows, noises, and unease. As the audience is experiencing everything through Indy’s eyes, the logic in what he sees comes from his canine instincts. At times, Indy’s perspective seems like “dream logic,” where things don’t quite make sense. The only other characters in the movie are Todd’s grandpa (genre favorite-Larry Fessenden-seen on VHS tapes), Grandpa’s faithful dog, Bandit (also seen on VHS), and a neighbor (Stuart Rudin) who lives relatively nearby (the neighbor provides some exposition about his grandpa and the surrounding area). Indy senses Todd is in some kind of danger, and he doesn’t know how to help him. At the same time, Todd’s personality changes; he becomes harsh towards Indy, which Indy doesn’t understand. No matter what happens, be it scary apparition or an unusually aggressive Todd, Indy stops at nothing to try to help Todd. 

Indy is indeed a good boy who deserves all the praise he is getting for his extraordinary performance. The writer/director, Ben Leonberg, also deserves quite a bit of praise for painstakingly working on this unusual film for three years. The experimental nature of the film reminded me of Skinamarink (2022) in that it was shot from the perspective of the dog, whereas Skinamarink was shot from the perspective of small children. However, Good Boy differs by recognizing that the film shouldn’t “overstay” its welcome. The 73-minute runtime makes way more sense than Skinamarink’s hour and forty minutes. 

I give Good Boy two paws up!