Ever since I first heard about Good Boy earlier this year as it was making the rounds at film festivals, it instantly became one of my most anticipated films of the year. I was sold just on the idea of this being a supernatural film told through a dog’s perspective. Sure, it sounds like a gimmick, but I really liked the sound of this gimmick. I’ve always been a sucker for the paranormal, and I was always intrigued by the idea that animals could see things that we could not. So after months of waiting, I finally got the opportunity to watch Good Boy. Did it live up to my expectations, or did it turn out to be a dud? The film follows Indy, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever. He is extremely loyal to his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), who we see from the opening scene is extremely ill. Todd knows his health is in decline, and he decides to get away from his doctors and his overbearing sister and moves out to his grandfather’s rural home. Just about immediately upon arriving Indy senses that there is something not right about the home but still continues to stick to his owner’s side. We watch through Indy’s concerned perspective as Todd lumbers through the home, wheezing and coughing. At night Todd combs through his grandfather’s VHS collection of old horror movies, but also some strange home videos of Grandpa (Larry Fessenden) talking about taxidermy. It also doesn’t take long before Indy starts to see that there are things lurking in the home.
The film has several moments that I loved. One that stands out the most is when Indy is left alone in the house for the first time and we see him patiently waiting by the window for Todd to return home … but then something gets Indy’s attention. It’s another dog that is in the home and it wants to show Indy “something” and Indy follows the dog upstairs, and the reveal is a tad bit unsettling. What’s so impressive is that obviously not a word is spoken in this sequence. It is all told through visuals and of course Indy’s reactions. I’d imagine most dog owners are going to watch this film and afterwards wonder just how the director was able to wrangle this kind of a performance out of his pet. I’m not exaggerating that this dog shows more emotional range than several A-listers who have been in big-budget films this year.
Now the film is only 72 minutes long, and really it is fine at that length. Frankly, I feel we have too many films with bloated runtimes. But there are two things I wish this film expanded on. One is about the ending. I don’t want to get into spoiler territory. so I’ll keep that to myself. but the other has to do with a neighbor who is a fox hunter. He’s there to help set the tone that perhaps the woods are not safe and that he knows that Todd’s grandpa had some issues, but I just wish they had done a little more with this character, though I still look at it as a positive thing that this film left me wanting more rather than feeling that chunks should have been removed.
The film is an independent production, and the smaller budget definitely forced the director Ben Leonberg to get creative with many of the film’s sequences. The camera work here is simple but effective. One shot that stands out is when Todd is taking a stroll to a gravesite on the property and we see the early morning mist spilling through the trees. This was a beautiful and atmospheric shot that really sets the tone for the rest of the film and helps evoke how isolated Todd and Indy are from the rest of the world. Then there is the creature made up of mud and bile. Again, it is simple but effective, and honestly using it less I feel could have been more effective … but we certainly can understand why it would terrify poor Indy.
As much as this is a spooky haunted-house film, at its core this is really about the loyalty and bond between a dog and the owner. It really does a fantastic job of showing that undying love these four-legged animals have for us and how they possibly know more than we give them credit for. This is personally my favorite independent film that I’ve seen in the past few years just because it pulls off so much with such a minimal budget. Earlier this year I caught the new Steven Soderbergh film Presence, and that to was a haunted-house film told through a unique perspective. These films would be a fun double feature, but Good Boy really is something special.
The film was acquired by Shudder and will most likely be dropping onto the service in the upcoming months. This is a film that I highly recommend. Now I know we don’t usually do major spoilers, but this is one exception I’ll make. No, the dog does not die in the film.
