Good Boy (2025)
Directed by Ben Leonberg
Written by Ben Leonberg & Alex Cannon
Starring Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden
IFC Films | Shudder
Release date: October 3, 2025

Dave3 and I just saw the new film Good Boy last night and here are my immediate thoughts about it. FYI – LOVED IT!!! If you’re able to, get out to see it in theaters and support indie horror.

Good Boy is a fantastic new indie horror movie filmed from the perspective of a dog. The movie follows Indy (played by Indy), a Nova Scotia Duck Toller Retriever, whose sickly owner Todd (Shane Jensen) moves them from his New York City apartment into his family’s rundown haunted rural home in a secluded woods. Once there, Indy not only witnesses the physical and mental deterioration of his beloved owner, but is also directly subjected to the menacing supernatural forces of the house.

But, “IS THE DOG OK?!?!?”, you ask. The answer is YES!!!!!!!

This is understandably a question many people are asking, because no one wants sit through a movie where a dog is harmed and/or killed, which does sometimes happen in films, especially horror ones (I’m still pissed at Michael Myers for this!). There are moviegoers actually shying away from seeing this because they’re worried about the dog, but please, it’s ok, it’s safe to see.

Not only is Indy fine in the 72-minute film — I dare say he’s a “Final Girl” — but he was during the entire filming, too. The film’s co-writer, director, and co-producer Ben Leonberg and his wife, co-producers Kari Fischer also happened to be Indy’s human parents, so a lot of care and consideration was given to their canine baby during the entire shoot, which was done in their New Jersey home in 400 days over the course of 3 years.

In the behind-the-scenes post-credits footage, the filmmakers revealed that Indy never knew he was making a movie (let alone a horror movie!). The typically energetic dog was basically just playing along with his parents… when he felt like it, that is, hence the unusually long shooting schedule. Having done many photoshoots with my only partially-cooperative cat Hexie, I could relate this and think it was brilliant of them to include this footage. The filmmakers also said that since the naturally emotive Indy is a retriever, he loved “having a job” and was never exposed to any danger or frights. He was just having fun being a dog.

Therefore, the cinnamon-colored canine unknowingly churned out one of the most captivating performances of the year, thanks to his genuine inquisitiveness and expressive nature, all conveyed without CGI enhancements.

The way the film was made you can tell that the eeriness of it comes from the camera angles and sound effects/score as well as creepy special effects added post-production (and likely ADR – dialogue – and in this case, dog sounds, added in later). This is not a gory, splatter-fest, but rather a suspenseful, psychological horror where the scares come more from the unknown and the things that go bump in the night. The camera is lowered so that it’s as if we’re seeing the events – both real and supernatural – through Indy’s eyes, which helps convey the anxiety, confusion, and helplessness the poor pooch feels.

While Indy is undoubtedly the star of the show in every way, there’s some intriguing scenes throughout of home video footage recorded by Todd’s late grandfather (Larry Fessenden), the home’s previous owner, who suffered a tragic fate. These grainy recordings give the audience a glimpse of what’s happened there before, and also feature the grandfather’s dog, a faithful companion similar to Indy.

I can’t say enough good things about this movie, it was just so unique and its goodest boy star Indy will capture your heart and has you rooting for him every step of the way. When the film premiered last month at the SXSW festival, Indy was presented with their first-ever “Howl of Fame” award for his outstanding performance, and rightfully so. Indy is — or at least should be — the next big animal star.

If you get a chance, definitely go see Good Boy in theaters! And be sure to stay for the post-credits bonus feature.