“One of the most emotive actors of his generation,” reads the IndieWire review of Ben Leonberg’s “Good Boy” out of the 2025 SXSW Film Festival. No, we weren’t talking about some rising Juilliard graduate or Actors Studio alum. We were talking about an actor with four legs.
Indy is the star of “Good Boy,” and he is a dog. The 73-minute horror movie, which freelance reviewer Rafael Motomayor called one of the year’s best, is centered entirely on his point of view as something very bad happens at his house.
The official synopsis for “Good Boy,” also starring Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, and Larry Fessenden, reads: “Our canine hero, Indy, finds himself on a new adventure with his human owner — and best friend — Todd, leaving city life for a long-vacant family home in the country.
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From the start, two things are abundantly clear: Indy is wary of the creepy old house, and his affection for Todd is unwavering. After moving in, Indy is immediately vexed by empty corners, tracks an invisible presence only he can see, perceives phantasmagoric warnings from a long-dead dog, and is haunted by visions of the previous occupant’s grim death. When Todd begins succumbing to the dark forces swirling around the house, Indy must battle a malevolence intent on dragging his beloved Todd into the afterlife.”
Written by Alex Cannon and Ben Leonberg — for our money, “Good Boy” should also feature a Leonberger as a result — the movie drew raves at SXSW. Motomayor wrote, “We’ve all experienced the creepiness of a pet sensing something you can’t; the eerie sensation that comes when you see a dog barking in the middle of the night at an empty wall, staring at nothing, or wandering off in a hurry to chase something that seems invisible. It’s spooky enough to witness in real life, but add in some haunting horror imagery — as Ben Leonberg’s ‘Good Boy‘ does in great supply — and it becomes a foundation for one of the year’s scariest movies, albeit one that also doubles as an emotional and moving tribute to the emotional bond between people and their four-legged friends.”
Check out the trailer for “Good Boy” below. The film will hit theaters on Friday, October 3.
IFC/Shudder will release “Good Boy” in theaters on October 3.
