Good Boy (2025) | Dogs Are the Best

Perhaps one of the few indie films that came out in 2025 to receive more attention than most was Good Boy. It was a small movie with a premise that intrigued audiences: What if a horror story was told from a dog’s perspective? It’s no surprise that as the movie garnered more attention, online searches spiked about whether or not the dog lives by the film’s end—I won’t spoil it if you want to see for yourself—because people rightly love dogs and wanted to make sure he was okay, even though it’s just a movie and the dog belongs to the director. It did well with critics and audiences, which is a rarity these days, so I was curious about what the result of this premise might be. I have kept my eyes peeled for when it might come to streaming services, and at last, I have gotten my chance to see it for myself.

Pros

Good use of camera angles and focus to draw your eyes to the background
The dog does a good job
Only 72 minutes long

Cons

Not much of a story
The supernatural element is somewhat unclear as to what it is, but that might be intentional

Plot & Thoughts

Indy is a good boy who loves his human, Todd (Shane Jenson), very much. Unfortunately, Todd is very sick and seems to be dealing with a terminal illness (likely cancer). Todd does not want to stay in his apartment or in a hospital for treatment, however. Instead, he travels to his grandfather’s house deep in the woods, where he and his sister used to visit when they were younger. His grandfather passed away years ago in a manner that is often regarded with much grief and horror, though it’s never explicitly said what happened. His grandfather’s dog, Bandit, also mysteriously disappeared at the time of his death and was never found. Even though the house and the circumstances of his grandfather’s death suggest that the place might be haunted or that there is something malevolent about the grounds, Todd decides to stay there and bring Indy with him. While staying there, Indy sees a dark presence in corners, eyes glowing in the woods, and moving shadows that represent a growing threat. Todd also begins to act strangely, becoming more aggressive and distant towards Indy. Is he becoming possessed, or is something else happening to Indy’s human?

It was a wise choice to keep Good Boy to only a little over an hour. The plot is pretty much what I’ve laid out already, and not much changes by the end. There are occasional jump scares and creepy things that interact with Indy as he guards his human and searches the house for the mysterious force that seems to be haunting the place, but there aren’t any real significant events that alter the plot or its direction. Since not a whole lot happens in terms of the story, the short runtime ensures that Good Boy ends before you start to get bored.

Regardless of plot complexity, I think Good Boy is a fun time and manages to achieve what it set out to do. It was interesting to have a horror film focused on the dog’s perspective and to have the human characters be in the background. Apart from a few exceptions, the faces of human characters are not shown in focus; they are often obscured or covered. The camera is instead focused on Indy and what he is seeing. Creative use of focus and camera angles is what makes the creepiness of the film succeed. There are a lot of instances in which something is visible in the background or out of focus to build tension in the scene or set up a scare. It makes you consider and question how dogs see the world around them, which makes the entity that Indy keeps seeing unclear in terms of its purpose, but perhaps that’s the point.

Even though he is a dog, Indy still has to endure a few scary moments like a regular character in a horror film. It’s a convincing and compelling performance by an animal, enough to keep you engaged and interested in his survival. The spooky things that happen to Indy don’t quite make sense if you think about what the supernatural presence really is, because it seems like the film wanted you to be worried about his survival, even though the entity is far more interested in Todd. Nonetheless, the gloomy atmosphere and spooky moments in which you can see something just out of focus in the background still manage to make the whole experience tense and entertaining.

TL;DR

Good Boy is a simple, short, independent film that achieves what it sets out to accomplish without wearing out its welcome. It’s an effective horror story that is told from the perspective of a loyal dog who does a good job of being a compelling character without being able to speak. There’s not much of a plot to follow, but there’s still plenty to enjoy about this tragic story of a dying man and his loving dog.

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