Life
Good Boy review: Woof! Woof! A four-legged star is born ★★★★
The director and his producer wife’s dog is the star of this supernatural horror film
October 13, 2025 16:16
The director and his producer wife’s dog is the star of this supernatural horror film
October 13, 2025 16:16By putting members of their own family in front of the camera, director Ben Leonberg and his wife and producer Kari Fischer have followed a long tradition among film-makers. In this instance, the result is a dream debut by an actor known as Indy. It is performance brimful of that star quality all films need at their centre – charisma.
Indy is Leonberg and Fischer’s dog and the animal is the stand-out star in this superbly conceived horror movie. The on-screen version of the tawny-coloured hound belongs to Todd (Shane Jensen) who takes his pet to the rural, isolated house bequeathed to him by his recently deceased grandfather.
Dog and owner arrive at their destination at night and during a storm. We know Todd isn’t in the best shape physically or mentally because his sister Vera, whose presence is a voice on Todd’s mobile speaker phone, is worried about her brother’s welfare. Also of concern is that the house, in whose woodland grounds six generations of Todd’s family have been buried, is said to be haunted.
“Does Indy seem to sense things you can’t see?” Vera asks Todd. Annoyed by the constant concern Todd hangs up. But the answer is, hell yes, he certainly does. Using nothing more than big brown eyes, a tilt this way or that of his head and ears that perk up with curiosity or flatten with fear, the dog deploys a wide variety of emotions when conveying the vulnerability of his canine character.
In one chilling scene, Indy’s big, brown nose points accusingly at the empty corner of a disused room. There is only shadow – or shading – where the two walls meet. Yet such is the skill with which Leonberg commands camera, sound and nerve-shredding music (by Sam Boase-Miller) a presence in the room is felt as strongly as if a green-eyed monster burst into full view through the plasterboard.
Shot almost entirely from the dog’s point of view, humans are mostly faceless menacing figures in soft focus. The film is at its impressive best when leaving much to the imagination. But when it lurches from psychological horror to the physical kind it is if the director lost faith in his vision’s ability to bring tell his story with subtlety. His inspiration is the film Poltergeist but for most of the film I was reminded of the elusive horror in the classic psychological thriller Don’t Look Now.
Still, in Indy, who is certainly not the first gormless film star to be launched by the skill of a director, a star has been born and Good Boy II must surely be gestating.
Cert 15
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