SXSW Film Review: Good Boy

It’s a moment that’s universal to all pet owners: the way an empty corner or blank wall can grab your furry friend’s attention. The mind races at what could be happening there. Good Boy takes the idea and runs with it, creating a charming twist on the haunted house film.

In Good Boy, we meet Indy (playing himself) and see the world through his eyes. What information we can gather about his owners and their history is gleaned from overheard conversations that expose bits and pieces of the larger picture. Indy’s owner, Todd (physically played by director Ben Leonberg and vocally played by Shane Jensen), is sick with an unnamed disease as well as facing off with an angry spirit. Perhaps Todd can’t or won’t see the ominous shadow that catches Indy’s attention immediately in the film, and so decides to try and outrun his sickness and his ghost problem by moving into his grandfather’s abandoned home in the country. Here, Indy will have to face the threatening spirit on his own, and try his best to save his beloved friend.

Over the course of three years, filmmaker Leonberg and his partner and producer Kari Fischer made Good Boy. With patience and hours of extra footage of Indy, the pair was able to capture a wonderfully emotive and soulful performance from their dog. With every wide-eyed look of curiosity or fear, the audience is drawn into Indy’s point of view and understands what’s going on in our main character’s head immediately. It is also a blank canvas on which an audience can map out their feelings and fears, bringing something different for each viewer.

It’s a performance that adds to the beautiful and harrowing impressionistic style of the film. As the film progresses, Indy’s perspective is shot from his eyeline and his mindset. The camera follows Indy as he tracks down the location of creaks and wheezes in the night, and as he dreams. In several memorable sequences, the film speculates about what the dreams (or nightmares, really) of man’s best friend can look and feel like. They are focused on lush details: the delicate noises of a wind chime, visions of the last dog who lived in the house, and rain pouring down window panes against the inky black sky. Indy’s way of seeing the world is to be immersed in the minutiae of it, adding to the film’s atmospheric sensibility. We are also acutely aware of the limitations he faces as a pet, adding in a sense of helplessness that adds to the suspense that permeates the film.

Good Boy is a beautifully shot and performed film that takes the traditional tropes of the haunted house film and finds a refreshing and entertaining new angle.

Screens again Monday, March 10 and Friday, March 14.
Read Richard Whittaker's interview with director Ben Leonberg here.

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Good Boy

Midnights, World Premiere

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