A man moves into a new home that has supernatural forces lurking in the shadows. As dark entities start to threaten him, his brave dog comes to the rescue.
Directed by Ben Leonberg (The Fisherman’s Wife) and produced by Kari Fischer, who are both Indy’s real-life humans, Good Boy has already gained a devoted following. The film’s cult status continues to soar among both fans and critics, with the film now boasting an impressive 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
And they say there are no new ideas. Good Boy is a quintessential haunted house horror film with the residents of a particular family property generationally haunted by some evil force or spirit. I’ve seen this film a dozen times before, and so have you—though not through this particular lens. And that’s what makes this a really fun, really different experience.
Script-wise, there isn’t much special about this one, especially since the main character isn’t exactly rehearsing lines over coffee in his set caravan. Todd, our secondary protagonist, is barely seen saying anything at all, and half of the audio sounds like a voiceover, as Todd’s face is hidden for a good majority of the film. This is not to say that the script is bad; it fills in the gaps in the story and adds context to the rather thin plot. In short, it helps us make sense of what transpires and little else.
The premise is that old adage of animals being more sensitive to the ether—that is, being able to sense spirits or ghosts. A common trope in modern horror is the pet dog being able to see the creature that haunts the house while the family cannot. It’s similar to how children are supposed to be more sensitive to the spiritual world, as they have yet to lose their sense of wonder or imagination. Indy (Indy), moving out to the old house with his master, Todd, is fulfilling that prophetic role.
The film channels a little bit of everything from all of those popular horror franchises that you so love and enjoy, but has a particular indie feel to it—less The Conjuring and more Skinamarink in its darkness and tone. Don’t worry, though, you won’t be staring at a single upside-down chair for 5 minutes. The pacing is great, and the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. The opening shots of the house and forest already foreshadowed what was to be a wonderful selection of scenes shot, cut, and edited meticulously—the end product a tour de force. There are other poignant themes I don’t want to touch on for the sake of not addressing spoilers.
My gripes were few but notable. The red-on-blue contrast lighting was too obvious and overdone, especially considering that it would have been a stroke of genius to do it in the dog’s own visual colour range. The score could have been better as it was really just background noise and little else. There was a chance to really do something more than…whatever instrument that was. A single, haunting, but very angry didgeridoo with kick drum? The creature itself was also a little too generic-looking, but I’m giving that a pass as I don’t expect doggos to have that much of an imagination when it comes to ghosties.
This is going to be one of those films that you either love or hate, but I’m inclined to believe that the lovers will outweigh the haters. It’s unique, it’s heartfelt, and it tried to be very bold (in places). Did it succeed? Mostly. It’s a little too dark, a little drawn out, and a little lacking in the plot department. It makes up for it in most all of the other the other categories by being well paced, genuinely haunting, emotive, and cinematically creative. It also features the goodest boy ever.
Thanks for reading and as always, stay sordid. I have posted the film art and the trailer below. Good Boy will be in UK Cinemas from 10th October.
