If you’re a dog lover, or pet lover of any kind, this score should be 0 out of 5 stars. Hell even the aggressively indifferent me sqirmed more than a few times. But if your movie fandom can overcome, Good Boy is a really fun time at the movies, taking something we’ve all seen and doing something really interesting with the idea. It will scare you…and maybe even a little more than that.
Todd (Shane Jensen) and his pet dog Indy arrive at Todd’s grandpa’s remote house out in the wood. Even though Todd’s sister Vera (Arielle Friedman) is worried about his move, Todd waxes nostalgic and has made his mind up. Indy is happy as always to be with his best pal. But things start to look weird for him, as strange shadows and dark basements beckon with ominous noises and even more ominous threats that might be going after Indy or even, worse, his best friend Todd.
If you’ve seen ANY horror movie, you know that the animals have to go first. They ALWAYS know. That observation gives Good Boy this inherent sense of dread the minute Indy sets foot in grandpa’s house. Director Ben Leonberg has utmost faith in Indy to come through though. I mean, it is HIS dog. And come through Indy does! The dog is sent through the ringer: jump scares, rainy sets, shadowy figures, strange people, even haunted dreams. Every horror trope is used in Good Boy, but still feel fresh cause we’ve never seen a dog go through them all. And because the dog doesn’t know any better, the jumps are a little higher and a little more tension filled. Each scare comes with a fascinating, emotionally available look from Indy, who’s simply marvelous and captivating as our main character. Leonberg designs the house as a perfect explorable set for his dog, following him around with a camera as he goes in and out of rooms, ready to capture the next amazing moment his dog gives him early and often.
But Good Boy isn’t just a jump scare factory. The story Leonberg and Alex Cannon craft around Indy is simple. Simple doesn’t mean forgettable though. All the peril and fear Indy feels comes from one beautiful, simple reason that slowly becomes clear as the movie goes along. There’s no big crazy twist here, just some well placed moments that drive home what’s really happening. And there’s Indy in the middle of it, acting as you would expect for a dog like him. The ending shockingly got me close to tears, and I heard more than a few sniffles as the story reached it’s poignant climax, a modern version of a tale that feels as old as time the minute the credits start to roll.
I don’t need a Good Boy 2, but I would like to see maybe someone else try something with this concept. Knowing the crazed horror fans out there, it’s gonna be something grosser and weirder. A horse realizing a natural disaster is coming would be cool! Or go the Cujo route, and make a movie from the point of view of a crazed possessed animal. It’ll be called Rabid. You’re welcome Shudder.