Good Boy (2025) [Movie Review] — An intimate, canine-led supernatural that quietly lingers

Ben Leonberg’s Good Boy reinvents haunted-house conventions by putting a dog at the center of its fear economy. Clocking in at a brisk runtime, this supernatural horror favors atmosphere and sensory detail over jump-scare excess. It’s a film that trusts a dog’s point of view — and the audience’s imagination — to generate dread.

Direction & Script

Lean, suggestive storytelling

Co-written by Leonberg and Alex Cannon, the script is admirably economical. Rather than explaining every creak and shadow, it layers suggestion: VHS recordings, taxidermy how-tos, and old home videos fuse with creeping sounds to imply a broader menace. Leonberg’s direction privileges feeling over exposition, which sometimes leaves threads tantalizingly unresolved — a feature, not a flaw, for viewers who prefer implication to literal answers.

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Performances

Human restraint, canine charisma

Shane Jensen anchors the film with an understated performance as Todd, his fragility and silences giving Indy — the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever — room to shine. Indy is the soul of the picture: expressive, alert, and convincing as a protector. Supporting turns from Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden, and Stuart Rudin add texture without stealing focus. The cast’s restraint complements the movie’s observational, almost pastoral unease.

Cinematography & Sound

Sensory filmmaking that listens more than it shows

Wade Grebnoel’s cinematography frequently adopts low angles and long tracking shots that approximate a dog’s line of sight, turning hallways and groves into uncanny landscapes. Curtis Roberts’s editing and the sound design are the film’s spine — subtle creaks, distant thuds, and the amplified rustle of leaves create a tactile soundscape. The film’s most effective scares come from the layering of sound and shadow rather than the obvious reveal.

Themes & Interpretation

Loyalty, loss, and unreliable perspective

Beneath the supernatural trappings, Good Boy is a study of companionship and anxiety: a dog’s fierce loyalty against a backdrop of human decline. The film asks whether the horrors are external or the product of a strained mind — and because we often see and hear what Indy does, the narrative invites sympathetic misreadings. That ambiguity is where the movie finds depth.

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Verdict

Modest, affecting, and worth a watch — 6.5/10

Good Boy isn’t a grand, revolutionary shocker — but its craftsmanship, canine lead, and quiet emotional core make it a memorable entry in contemporary supernatural horror. At a measured 6.5/10, it’s especially recommended for viewers who appreciate sensory, POV-driven scares and films that favor mood and loyalty over spectacle.