Good Boy has an innately intriguing gimmick at its center, with its take on a haunted house story where we follow the entire narrative from the perspective of a dog. Director and co-writer Ben Leonberg is to be commended for making this gimmick actually work and sustain itself for the film’s run time, aided in no small part by his lead actor - Leonberg’s own dog, Indy, who gives one hell of a performance regardless of species.
By design, the film’s plot (from Leonberg and his fellow screenwriter, Alex Cannon) is minimal, but the gist is a guy named Todd (Shane Jensen), recently released from the hospital after a scary illness, goes to his late grandfather’s secluded cabin accompanied by his beloved dog, Indy (yes, the dog thespian and his character both share the same name). Spooky, unsettling things begin to occur, but while Todd no doubt has his own very specific take on all of this, it’s only through Indy’s eyes that we watch any of it occur, whether Todd is present or not.
But it’s not literally through Indy’s eyes, because Leonberg never cheats to make things easier for himself by making this a first-person (or first-dog) perspective situation and simply having the camera represent Indy’s POV. Instead, he commits to keeping the camera with Indy – and usually low level, at Indy’s height – to truly spotlight him as the protagonist. He doesn’t speak and we don’t hear his thoughts out loud in the manner we might if this were a kids movie about a dog; we simply observe Indy as he in turn observes and reacts to the very creepy things going on all around him.
If there’s intricate lore here or some Big Explanation that Todd is receiving in the alternate universe movie he’s starring in, neither we nor Indy are ever privy to it, with the only hints about what’s going on provided by the home movies Todd sometimes puts on of his grandfather (horror veteran Larry Fessenden) talking about his own plight prior to his death. Which is fine, since plenty of other solid horror movies have still been effective without an elaborate backstory, much less one where a dog is the one dealing with the situation.
The idea here is to essentially provide the usual tropes of a haunted house movie – unexplained noises, strange smells from the basement, weird movements in the shadows, and, naturally, things sometimes coming out of those shadows – but watch how Indy responds to these things instead of how Todd does. And it works because Indy is a lovable character and truly seems immersed in this situation and doing his best to survive it. Unless you’re a dog hater (in which case, I’m judging you), you’re going to invest in this dog, because he’s not just adorable, he actually comes off as quite emotive onscreen, letting you easily suspend your disbelief to go along with the idea that he’s reacting to the spookiness depicted in the movie rather than, say, the possibility of an on-set treat.
Yes, the thought of how they got Indy to react to something or how Leonberg was no doubt very clever in his choices of what shots of Indy to use to help sell a specific emotion in a given moment are hard to put aside, and I occasionally was more focused on the technical nature of Good Boy than the light narrative because the gimmick leads you down that path. But at the same time, if you put a cute, sweet dog into (fake) onscreen danger, it’s also hard to not be invested and keep hoping Indy can escape the supernatural peril he’s facing.
The human cast is, by and large, purposely peripheral, with Leonberg making the artistic decision to keep them physically a bit vague, with both Todd and a handful of others who are part of the story always remaining either out of focus or with their heads out of frame so that we never forget this is Indy’s story. The only exception is with Fessenden and the creepy videos his character left, where he is clearly seen, which works as an effective exception to a rule.
Though it’s Jensen’s voice you hear throughout the film, Leonberg was often the one physically playing Todd on set for scenes where Todd is in direct contact with Indy, which helps sell the genuine connection between Indy and Todd in the film, as we see just how much Indy loves his human. As we see just how hard Indy works to help Todd to the best of his abilities, all of us who’ve shared that kind of loving bond with a pet will be able to relate… and likely ponder if our own pets would go to the same lengths or just chicken out.
One place I felt Good Boy was lacking for awhile was in delivering scares rather than just providing a gently ominous feeling, but that improves in the film’s latter half. The final act does have a few genuinely scary moments, jump scares included, which again are amped up a bit because it’s hard not to feel an extra amount of sympathy for a cute dog in jeopardy.
The concept of Good Boy does have its innate limitations in terms of how far you can stretch it, and does begin to feel a bit redundant after an hour or so, which is why it was wise of Leonberg to keep the runtime short (the movie clocks in at just 73 minutes). While I don’t think the ending is especially impactful versus just feeling like it’s time to wrap things up, I did appreciate the poignant vibes Leonberg is going for, which touch back upon that special human-pet bond. And if Leonberg wants to keep using Indy in his own movies or have him work with other film directors, I’d welcome it, because that dog is great and truly a shining example of nepotism.
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