There’s something about the way dogs behave around the unseen that gets under your skin. A low growl at an empty hallway. A stare that lingers too long into the dark. The refusal to enter a room you know is fine—until suddenly, it’s not.
That’s the primal nerve Ben Leonberg’s Good Boy goes after—uncoiling a slow-burn horror story told not through human eyes, but through the gaze of a dog. There are no wisecracks or talking pets here. Just teeth-baring tension and a creeping sense of dread that clings like dog hair on a wool sweater.
Directed by Leonberg and co-written with Alex Cannon, Good Boy follows Indy—Leonberg’s own dog in real-life—as he relocates with his owner Todd (Shane Jensen) from the buzz of the city to a long-deserted country home.
Indy doesn’t like the house. He makes that known right away. But he loves Todd, and that’s enough—for a while.
As the days go on, it becomes clear Indy’s not just spooked. He’s sensing something. Tracking it. Staring at corners where no one else looks. He catches glimpses of a dead dog’s spectral warning, relives—somehow—the violent fate of the house’s last inhabitant, and tries to sound the alarm before it’s too late. Because whatever it is, it’s feeding on Todd. And if Indy can’t stop it, he might have to follow his beloved owner into a place no leash can pull him back from.
The film was sparked by a stray thought Leonberg had over a decade ago, while watching a familiar horror classic.
“Back in 2012, while revisiting the opening of Poltergeist, a ‘what if’ struck me that I couldn’t shake: What if the family dog was the only one who knew the house was haunted?” Leonberg recalls. “Good Boy is the result of that question. It’s a grounded, paranormal thriller told from the perspective of a dog—a loyal, everyday companion thrust into extraordinary circumstances. This is his movie, one where his instincts, senses, and simple reasoning drive the story and storytelling. My dog, Indy, is the star, though he has no idea he’s in it. He has no understanding of marks or cues, and he spent most of the shoot napping. Yet his on-screen presence is so magnetic that I put the whole movie on his oblivious little shoulders … At its core, Good Boy is more than a paranormal thriller—it’s a story about confronting a darkness so universal it transcends species, and the terrifying question of what might happen when even our most loyal protector senses something we cannot.”
It’s a hell of a hook: what happens when your only ally is the one who can’t speak—and won’t leave your side, even as the house begins to rot around you?
Alongside Indy and Jensen, the film features Arielle Friedman, horror legend Larry Fessenden (Jakob’s Wife, We Are Still Here), and Stuart Rudin (The Silence of the Lambs). The score is provided by Sam Boase-Miller.
Produced by Kari Fischer and Ben Leonberg, and co-produced by Brian Goodheart, Good Boy comes via IFC and Shudder—two names that know their way around a smart, left-field genre offering.
The film opens in North American theaters on October 3rd, with a UK release to follow on October 10th. The official trailer has just dropped, and it’s best not to watch it alone if your dog’s acting weird tonight.
Because if they are… maybe they’re trying to tell you something.
