Good Boy (2025 Leonberg film)

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Good Boy
Good Boy 2025 film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ben Leonberg
Written by
  • Alex Cannon
  • Ben Leonberg
Produced by
  • Kari Fischer
  • Ben Leonberg
Starring
CinematographyBen Leonberg
Edited byBen Leonberg
Music bySam Boase-Miller
Production
company
What's Wrong With Your Dog?
Distributed by
Release dates
  • March 8, 2025 (2025-03-08)(SXSW)
  • October 3, 2025 (2025-10-03)(United States)
Running time
73 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70,000
Box office$8.7 million

Good Boy is a 2025 American supernatural horror film directed by Ben Leonberg, who co-wrote it with Alex Cannon. It stars Leonberg's dog Indy alongside Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, and Larry Fessenden. The film follows Indy as he attempts to rescue his owner, a young man with a chronic lung disease, who is engulfed by a supernatural presence lurking in his late grandfather's rural home.

Contents

The film marks the feature-length directorial debut of Leonberg, who conceived the idea after re-watching Poltergeist (1982) and noting the horror trope of dogs sensing the presence of ghosts before humans. He decided to write a traditional haunted house film from the perspective of a dog. Leonberg and Cannon began writing the script in 2017, emphasizing action and perspective over dialogue to reflect the dog's point of view. Indy had no prior acting experience when Leonberg cast him in the lead role. The film was shot over a three-year period in Harding Township, New Jersey, with both Leonberg and Wade Grebnoel serving as cinematographers. Only Indy, Leonberg, and Leonberg's wife Kari Fischer (who produced the film alongside Leonberg) were present on set for much of the shoot.

Good Boy premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 8, and was released theatrically in the United States by Independent Film Company and Shudder on October 3. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for its ambitious concept, technical craftsmanship, visual style, emotionally resonant themes, and Indy's performance. However, some were critical of the storytelling, citing a convoluted narrative and pacing issues. The film was a commercial success, grossing $8.7 million on a $70,000 budget.

Plot

Todd, a young man suffering from a chronic lung disease, relocates from New York City to his late grandfather's rural, uninhabited home in the woods with his beloved dog, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy. Todd's sister, Vera, worries about Todd's isolation at the home, believing the house is haunted and contributed to their grandfather's death there. Indy immediately senses a presence in the home, often manifesting in shadows and sometimes appearing as a dark, skeletal figure drenched in mud.

While roaming the woods, Indy and Todd encounter Richard, a longtime neighbor who warns them of fox traps he has set in the area. Richard informs Todd that he was the one who found Todd's grandfather's corpse, and that his grandfather's Golden Retriever, Bandit, has been missing since. Indy recurrently observes the dark entity in the house and encounters an apparition of Bandit which leads him upstairs. Beneath a wardrobe, Indy finds a bandana that belonged to Bandit. Indy also experiences recurring dreams of being attacked by the dark figure, and has visions of Todd's grandfather, who appears to have died in the home of a similar disease.

Meanwhile, Todd's health worsens and he begins regularly coughing up blood. He becomes increasingly aggressive toward Indy and Vera, who constantly checks in on him by phone. Late one night, Indy awakens to find Todd in an incoherent state, slamming his head against the basement door. While Todd sleeps, Indy observes the figure approaching the bedroom. Todd awakens, collapses, and is separated from Indy after the entity closes a door between them. Indy escapes the house, intending to find Richard so he can help Todd, but becomes caught in one of Richard's fox snares. Todd reprimands him by leashing him outside and forcing him to sleep in a doghouse.

While outside one night, Indy senses the dark figure and hears Todd coughing loudly from the upstairs bedroom. The figure attempts to attack Indy, but he breaks free by running into the doghouse, knocking it over and breaking the chain from its anchor inside. Indy finds the home's cellar door open and infiltrates the home, encountering Bandit's skeleton in the process. Meanwhile, the dark figure approaches Todd in his bedroom while he is in a weakened, rapidly deteriorating state. Indy arrives in the bedroom and comforts Todd, who turns and faces his own corpse on the bed; realizing he has died, Todd is dragged by the figure through the house and into the basement. Indy chases him, attempting to save him as he is pulled into a dark, cavernous tunnel. Todd, accepting his fate, tells Indy he is a good dog but cannot rescue him, before the dark figure seizes him.

The following morning, Vera arrives at the house, finding Todd's dead body and Indy sitting alone at the bottom of the cellar entrance. Vera tearfully calls for Indy, who pauses after hearing Todd's whistling from the tunnel, before ascending the stairs to her.

The end credits that follow show various scenes of Indy sticking his head out Vera's car window while they drive through the woods. At the end, a whistle similar to Todd's is heard, prompting Indy to get back inside the car.

Cast

Production

In 2012, Ben Leonberg conceived the idea for a supernatural horror film framed from a dog's perspective after re-watching the 1982 film Poltergeist , in which the central family's dog is the first to sense the presence of ghosts, and realizing that it was a trope among other horror films centered around a haunted house. [a] Leonberg also cited the 1980 film The Shining as an influence for Good Boy, noting that both films question whether the characters' seemingly supernatural experiences are genuine or products of their psychological state, and feature endings open to interpretation. [6] [7] Leonberg and his co-writer Alex Cannon began writing the film in 2017. Leonberg envisioned the film as a tribute to dogs and their relationship with humans. [8] As the story could not utilize dialogue to progress, Cannon and Leonberg wrote the story to emphasize action, perspective, and point of view. [1]

The film stars Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (example pictured) owned by director Ben Leonberg. Duck Toller.jpg
The film stars Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (example pictured) owned by director Ben Leonberg.

The film was directed by Leonberg in his feature directorial debut, [b] and produced by his wife, Kari Fischer. They cast their dog, Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, as the film's lead. [c] The decision came after Leonberg participated in The Rode Reel, an online short film competition, with an entry starring Indy. The short won the Judges' Film Prize and a financial award that helped fund the full-length feature, while Indy himself earned a nomination for Best Actor. Encouraged by the film's reception and Indy's recognition, Leonberg chose to cast him as the lead in Good Boy. [8] [16] Indy had no formal acting training prior to the film, and Leonberg originally did not picture Indy as the lead while writing. [1] [8] However, he described Indy as having an "intense, unblinking stare" and expressive movements that he thought would make him a good fit for the role. [3]

To begin production, Leonberg developed a loose storyboard after recognizing that it was impossible to plan each shot with complete precision, as Indy's movements were unpredictable and could not be timed like those of a human actor. [1] Cinematography and lighting were adapted to account for the dog's unpredictable movement. [16] Good Boy was filmed over a period of three years in a house in Harding Township, New Jersey, which accounted for over 400 days of filming. [d] The lengthy filming schedule was attributed to Indy not having a double, like many dog-focused films do, and thus portraying himself in every scene of the film. Leonberg, Fischer, and Indy lived in the house during the film's production. [e] For much of the principal photography, only Fischer, Leonberg, and Indy were present on set to keep the filming process free of distractions. Leonberg said that they frequently completed only one or two shots per day due to the difficulty of working with a dog. [1] To direct Indy, Leonberg would make bizarre noises and say unusual words in strange vocal tones to elicit a natural reaction from the animal. [f] To make him walk in certain directions, a toy dog was used to guide Indy. [1] [3] Leonberg stated that much of Indy's performance was crafted through filming and post-production techniques, such as music, sound design, and the Kuleshov effect to convey audience interpretation, rather than emotional expression from the animal. [g]

As the film aimed to capture a dog's point of view, Leonberg and his co-cinematographer Wade Grebnoel utilized visual techniques such as filming from a low angle to frame Indy in the center to prioritize his viewpoint and rarely showing human characters above the waist. [h] Leonberg would occasionally stand in for Shane Jensen as Todd, in shots where the character's face is off-screen, as Indy would only perform certain actions with his real-life owner. [i] A stuffed replica of Indy, which Leonberg nicknamed 'Findy', was used as a stand-in for Indy when setting up various shots of the film and performing stunts. [18] It uses limited computer-generated imagery, none of which to enhance Indy's performance. [4] [14] Leonberg and Fischer set up their own production company for the film, called What's Wrong With Your Dog? [12] The film was completed on a production budget of $70,000 and has a 73-minute runtime. [14] [23]

Release

Good Boy premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 8 in the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas. [j] It screened again at the Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans in April 2025. [19] [28] The film had its Canadian premiere at the Calgary Underground Film Festival and was also later screened in July 2025 at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec. [28] [29] The film was originally scheduled for a limited theatrical release, but the popularity of its trailer and poster, which achieved the largest reach in the Independent Film Company's (IFC) history, led to it receiving a wide theatrical release. [k] In May 2025, the streaming service Shudder acquired the distribution rights to the film for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [35] [36] It was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 8, and later at the Film at Lincoln Center on August 19, 2025. [37] [38] It was released theatrically throughout North America on October 3, 2025 via the IFC. [l] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Good Boy was released in theaters on October 10, via Vertigo Releasing. [m] It was also released on streaming on October 24. [21] It premiered on Shudder on November 21. [27]

Reception

Box office

Good Boy grossed $990,000 on its domestic opening night. [41] On its opening Saturday, Good Boy grossed $777,700. [32] Throughout its opening weekend, the film was screened at 1,650 theaters, IFC's second-highest opening weekend theater count in its history, and grossed $2.3 million, debuting as the ninth-highest-grossing film of that weekend. [n] It was IFC's second-best opening weekend gross in history, and within the larger IFC Entertainment Group, it ranked as the third-largest opening weekend, behind Clown in a Cornfield (2025, which was released by RLJ Entertainment) and Late Night with the Devil (2023). [o] In its second weekend, Good Boy stayed in 1,650 theaters, earning about $1.36 million over the weekend and $1.6 million over the long four-day period. [10] By its third weekend, the film had earned $5.59 million domestically, and over $450,000 internationally. [15] To date, the film has grossed $8.7 million at the worldwide box office. [41] [43]

Critical response

Good Boy received generally positive reviews. [p] Critics commended its craftsmanship and technical execution given the challenges of its concept. [q] Chase Hutchison of TheWrap said the film "thrives in its technical approach", and Benjamin Lee of The Guardian called it a strong showcase of Leonberg's capabilities, despite having limited resources. [14] [45] Critics responded positively to Good Boy's cinematography and visuals. [r] Fangoria critic Jordan Hoffman described it as a "marvel of imagery" for its vivid outdoor visuals and the haunting atmosphere of its indoor scenes, and Wendy Ide of The Observer described the film as "cleverly framed and murkily atmospheric". [46] [48] Reviewers lauded Indy's performance as the lead. [s] It was described by Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle as "a marvel of sensitivity, alertness and nuance", and Rendy Jones of Den of Geek likened it to the title character of the animated comedy horror series Courage the Cowardly Dog . [49] [53] Carlos Morales of IGN cited it as the primary reason to watch the film. [54]

Although many critics appreciated the novelty of the film's premise, [t] the storytelling received a mixed response, as some considered it to be convoluted, underwhelming, and thinly scripted. [u] In the Los Angeles Times , critic Amy Nicholson called the film's story underwhelming and restrained, and Kevin Maher of The Times was critical of the story's plot holes and pacing inconsistencies. [47] [50] Some also criticized the film for feeling drawn out, despite its relatively short runtime. [v] Despite this, many voiced that they found the film emotionally moving and thought-provoking. [w] Peter Debruge ( Variety ) and Meagan Navarro ( Bloody Disgusting ) both agreed that the film's emotional impact stemmed from Indy's immense loyalty to his owner, finding it deepened their appreciation for dogs. [17] [52] Most critics found the film to be effectively scary and suspenseful. [x] The Hollywood Reporter 's Frank Scheck and IndieWire 's Rafael Motamayor both noted that the film's scares felt familiar and unoriginal, but remained effective throughout the runtime. [13] [20] Kim Newman, writing for the British Film Institute, called the film "a study in creeping dread rather than shocks". [51]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 90% based on 185 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "Good Boy is a visually striking, emotionally devastating horror film that eschews genre conventions to deliver a uniquely haunting and conceptually ambitious experience." [55] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [56] Both Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy and Rafael Motamayor of IndieWire called it one of the year's best horror movies. [20] [44] The National Board of Review, at its 2025 ceremony, listed Good Boy as one of the year's ten best independent films. [57] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. [58]

Accolades

Nominated for Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller for his performance at the 9th Astra Film Awards, Indy made film awards history as he is now the first canine to be nominated for a major film acting category that had previously recognized only human talent. [59] [60] [61] Indy ultimately won the award; though not in attendance, Leonberg accepted the award via an acceptance speech video, with Indy by his side, that was published on the Astra Awards Instagram account and YouTube channel the following day. [y] The decision, however, was criticized by social media users, who expressed their thoughts and outrage online. [67]

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipientResultRef.
Astra Film Awards January 9, 2026 Best First FeatureGood BoyNominated [68]
[69]
Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller Indy Won
Austin Film Critics Association December 18, 2025 Special AwardWon [z] [70]
Boston Society of Film Critics December 14, 2025 Best in Show (Best Animal Performance)Won [71]
Fantasy Filmfest September 27, 2025Fresh Blood AwardGood BoyNominated [72]
Film Independent Spirit Awards February 15, 2026 Best Editing Ben Leonberg Pending [73]
National Board of Review December 3, 2025 Top 10 Independent Films Good BoyWon [aa] [57]
Overlook Film Festival April 10, 2025Scariest Feature FilmNominated [28]
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals October 13, 2025Great Filmmaking AwardWon [74]
San Diego Film Critics Society December 15, 2025 Best First Feature (Director)Ben LeonbergNominated [75]
[76]
Special Award: Best Animal PerformanceIndyWon
Seattle Film Critics Society December 15, 2025 Special CitationWon [ab] [77]
Sitges Film Festival October 18, 2025 Best Motion Picture AwardGood BoyNominated [78]
South by Southwest Film & TV Festival March 12, 2025 Howl of Fame Award (Best Canine Performance)IndyWon [ac]
Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival October 6, 2025Best International Feature FilmGood BoyWon [80]

Notes

  1. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
  2. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [1] [6] [9] [10] [11] [12]
  3. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [13] [3] [4] [5] [6] [8] [14] [15]
  4. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [13] [1] [4] [6] [8] [16] [17]
  5. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [2] [4] [6] [16]
  6. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [1] [3] [8] [16] [18]
  7. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [2] [3] [6] [8] [16]
  8. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [4] [5] [17] [19] [20] [21] [22]
  9. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [2] [5] [12] [16]
  10. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [13] [9] [15] [16] [11] [24] [25] [26] [27]
  11. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [26] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]
  12. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [7] [12] [14] [15] [26] [34] [39] [40]
  13. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [9] [14] [39]
  14. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [10] [30] [31] [32]
  15. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [10] [30] [31] [32] [42]
  16. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [9] [12] [16] [21]
  17. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [13] [14] [20] [44] [45]
  18. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [46] [47] [48]
  19. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [3] [6] [12] [14] [20] [31] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53]
  20. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [2] [3] [44] [46] [52]
  21. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [14] [45] [47] [50]
  22. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [14] [45] [47]
  23. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [13] [14] [17] [19] [22] [45] [47] [48] [51] [52] [53]
  24. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [13] [2] [16] [17] [19] [20] [44] [49] [52]
  25. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [62] [63] [64] [65] [66]
  26. ↑ For a uniquely realized performance in the field of animal acting.
  27. ↑ This award does not have a single winner, but recognizes multiple films.
  28. ↑ For achievements in animal acting.
  29. ↑ Attributed to multiple references: [10] [12] [17] [28] [32] [39] [79]

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  60. ↑ @unilad; (November 27, 2025). "A dog has officially been nominated for Best Performance at a major film awards show, and no, this isn't a joke 🐾🎬⁠ Indy, the breakout canine star of Good Boy, just scored a nomination for Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller at the 9th Astra Film Awards.⁠ He's up against human actors, not in a novelty category, but a proper acting slot. And honestly? He earned it.⁠ The film's also nominated for Best First Feature, but Indy's the one making award season history.⁠ From good boy to awards contender, give this legend his trophy.⁠ 📹 – @goodboy.film" . Retrieved December 30, 2025– via Instagram.
  61. ↑ McClelland, Tim (November 28, 2025). "Canine Star of Good Boy Makes Movie History with Nomination". MovieWeb . Retrieved December 30, 2025.
  62. ↑ Stone, Sasha (January 10, 2026). "Sinners Wins Picture and Director at the Astra Awards". Awards Daily . Retrieved January 11, 2026.
  63. ↑ @hollywoodcreativealliance; (January 10, 2026). "Indy the Dog and his human companion Ben Leonberg accept the Astra for Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller Feature for Good Boy. #TheAstras #AstraFilmAwards #GoodBoyMovie #GoodBoy #Indythedog" . Retrieved January 11, 2026– via Instagram.
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  65. ↑ Indy the Dog wins Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller Feature for Good Boy | Astra Film Awards. The Astra Awards. January 10, 2026. Retrieved January 11, 2026– via YouTube.
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  77. ↑ Anderson, Erik (December 15, 2025). "Seattle Film Critics Society (SFCS) Awards: One Battle After Another Rules with 8 Wins". AwardsWatch. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
  78. ↑ Popp, Olivia (September 11, 2025). "Sitges gets ready to thrill and chill with its 2025 line-up". Cineuropa . MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe. Archived from the original on October 10, 2025. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
  79. ↑ Staff writer (March 17, 2025). "2025 South by Southwest Film Festival Recap". SAG Indie . Screen Actors Guild. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
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