My Thoughts on Good Boy
I am sure you all know that Good Boy is a haunted house movie from the perspective of a family dog, and the film takes a tiny, everyday mystery - the one anyone who lives with a dog has experienced - and builds an entire film around it.
The movie doesn’t just use the dog as a gimmick either, as Indy becomes the lens through which we experience the haunted house, where the camera stays low, at dog-eye level, and the humans - Todd, his sister Vera, and the small number of other characters - mostly exist as voices, legs, or shadows, and while at first, it was a bit disorienting, once you get used to it, it makes the suspense feel different, almost intimate.
The story itself is simple, where Todd, moves from the city to his family’s country house, and Vera, his sister, acknowledges that the place might be cursed, and you can tell the house has been abandoned for a while, even before any ghosts appear.
Todd is clearly not well either, as there’s a frailty to him, a quiet concern that's more background texture, a reason why he’s isolating himself, and anyway, Indy doesn’t care about all that, as for him, being with Todd is the best part of the day.
Leonberg, the director, co-writer, and cinematographer, doesn’t overplay Indy’s perspective, which could easily have been done, and the scare attempts are pretty subtle, and often unnerving precisely because of the limited viewpoint.
There are the usual tropes such as shadows/strange sounds, and Indy sees it all - he’s alert, he’s wary, and sometimes he just looks at something that makes you wonder if you're missing something, and the film also reminded me of why I like dogs so much, as Indy’s reactions feel genuine in every scene, as he’s not performing; he’s just being a dog, and that simplicity works really well.
There are moments where you feel real anxiety, the kind that comes from caring about a character - or in this case, a dog - without question, and watching Indy explore the house, hearing what he hears that Todd barely notices, you become fully invested.
I also noticed that sometimes the film teeters on the edge of feeling too subtle, where you squint at a corner, thinking, “What am I missing here?” But maybe that’s exactly the point, as Indy doesn’t understand, Todd doesn’t understand, and neither do we entirely.
I thought the visuals were great too, and there’s a texture to the house, and when Indy peers into the basement or under the bed, the camera’s low angle and tight framing make you feel small and curious too.
There’s a real patience in the way the shots are composed that encourages you to notice the little things, and t’s a kind of horror that relies on observation rather than reaction, which I guess won't be for everyone, but I found it quite refreshing.
While Good Boy has horror elements, it is also basically a love story though, of sorts, between a dog and his human, and it’s not manipulated with music cues that scream “feel this,” it’s much more natural, and it just works.
You really start to care about that simple, unspoken bond that Indy shares with Todd, and that bond is the lens through which the rest of the house are filtered through.
The film also doesn't try and explain everything either, and as mentioned, it is a very subtle film in a number of ways, as you get hints, glimpses, and partial stories revealed through phone conversations, AND old VHS tapes, but the house keeps its secrets.
You end up understanding just enough to feel uneasy but not enough to solve the puzzle, and that ambiguity, paired with Indy’s perspective, makes the horror more patient and thoughtful, like it exists whether or not I’m watching.
By the end of the film, you will feel emotionally exhausted in the best way, and protective of Indy, and Good Boy is a horror movie that will also move you, as it captures your emotion so naturally alongside the suspense.
It is a movie you don't just watch, you experience it, and it’s one of the most unique horror films I’ve encountered in a long time, and reminded me why dogs are such incredible companions.