Good Boy is one of those movies that sounds absolutely insane when you try explaining it to someone, like yeah its a haunted house movie but shot completely from a dogs perspective, no the dog does not talk, no there are no subtitles telling you what he is thinking just a dog staring at weird shit happening around him for 72 minutes. On paper that sounds boring as hell but somehow this thing actually works way better than it should, Ben Leonberg shot this over 400 days across three years with his own dog Indy, you can tell this was a real passion project because who the hell else would dedicate that much time to filming a dog just reacting to stuff. The whole movie is shot from dogs eye level, you are seeing everything exactly the way Indy sees it, human faces are always cut off or hidden in shadows until the very end, its all about what this dog is going through, how confused he is by all the supernatural crap happening in this house. What makes this work is that Indy delivers a solid performance without any CGI bullshit, you can see actual fear in his eyes when things get creepy, confusion when his owner starts acting strange, that loyalty dogs have even when they have zero clue whats happening, just a regular dog reacting while the director is behind the camera making duck noises to get his attention pointed in the right direction which is hilarious but also kind of genius. The plot is super straight forward, Todd moves into his dead grandpas house with his dog Indy, Todd is sick as hell coughing up blood all over the place dealing with some chronic lung disease, there is clearly something evil in that house trying to drag Todd into the afterlife before his time is up, Indy knows something is very wrong, he cannot do anything about it because he is just a dog. Its frustrating as hell to watch, you want Indy to save his owner, he has no way to communicate what he is seeing.
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The production behind this thing is absolutely wild, Ben Leonberg could only shoot with Indy for like an hour each day because after that the dog would get tired, completely loose focus, just wander off to do dog things instead of acting, that means they had to stretch this project out over three fkn years just to get enough footage to make a 72 minute movie which is insane. This is not some big studio project with a dog doing tricks for treats, this is a directors actual real life pet just living his life while cameras happen to be rolling, capturing genuine reactions instead of manufactured performances, most of the shots where Indy looks terrified, locked onto something off screen were done by crew members holding treats or toys just out of frame, then the editing makes it seem like he is staring at ghosts, demons, whatever supernatural entity is tormenting Todd. All the human faces stay hidden in darkness, cut off at weird angles for most of the runtime which keeps you locked into Indys limited point of view, you dont get to see what the humans are thinking, feeling based on there facial expressions, you only see what Indy can see from down low at dog height looking up at everything. It makes the whole experience feel way more isolated, scary because your experiencing this nightmare from the perspective of a creature that has absolutely zero ability to understand whats going on around him.
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Todd has been dealing with a chronic lung disease and its very bad to the point he is coughing up blood constantly, we see hospital visits during the start of the movie and his sister Vera keeps calling trying to get him to let her help but at this point he is like what ever happens. Todd just wants to be left alone, he doesnt want to be treated like a sick person anymore, but here comes the bit problem this house has a very dark history that nobody told him. Indy and Todd arrive to the place and Indy starts sensing something is very very wrong the moment they got there, he hears weird sounds from the basement, sees shadowy figures moving in corners, theres this muddy alien looking creature that keeps appearing, disappearing all over the house scaring the absolute shit out of him. At first you think maybe Indy is just picking up on the fact that Todd is dying, dogs can smell cancer so maybe these scary visions are just the dogs way of processing his owners sickness which would make sense, but then things get way too specific, way too physical for it to just be metaphor, doors start slamming shut on there own. Todd begins sleepwalking, bashing his head repeatedly against the basement door like he is being called down there, that muddy figure gets more aggressive as time goes on, eventually you realize both things are happening at once, Todd is absolutely dying from his illness but theres also something supernatural in this house trying to drag him into the afterlife early. The grandfather died in this same house, his dog Bandit was never found after they discovered the body which sets up this tragic parallel.
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The third part is where everything comes crashing together, it gets sad as hell, Todd puts Indy outside on a chain in the pouring rain because he is too sick to deal with a dog anymore, also probably because he knows he is about to die soon, wants to make sure Indy is somewhere easy for Vera to find him. Indy breaks free, gets back into the house through the basement entrance where he finds Bandits skeleton still trapped down there from when the grandfather died years ago, turns out the same thing happened to them decades earlier, the supernatural entity dragged the grandfather into the afterlife, Bandit got locked in the basement trying desperately to save him, then just starved to death waiting for his owner which is brutal. When Indy makes it back upstairs he finds Todd already dead in bed with empty pill bottles scattered everywhere, theres nothing Indy can do, I mean he is a DOG what he can do??. Todds ghost appears one last time, that muddy death creature drags him toward this cave entrance in the basement, Indy tries to pull Todd back out but Todd tells him your a good dog but you cant save me this time, you got to stay here before getting pulled completely into the darkness. For a second it looks like Indy is going to do the same thing Bandit did, just sit there waiting forever but then Vera shows up calling for him, after hearing one final whistle from Todds ghost he makes the choice to run up the stairs toward her, survival instead of death. The movie ends with Indy riding in the car with Vera, his head out the window, he is safe but his owner is gone forever, theres nothing he could have done to change that outcome, its a punch to the gut.
The whole thing ends up being way more emotional, sad than I would expect from something called Good Boy, its not a feel good story about a heroic dog who saves his owner and to be honest even though its cool I feel it lacks that punch, that true fear and horror, its like a horror movie for kids. A realistic depressing story about grief, loss, watching someone you love die while being completely powerless to stop it. Not going to say I hate the ending because it doesnt give you that satisfying moment where Indy defeats the monster, saves Todd, but instead it just ends with Todd dead, Indy having to move on which feels empty after spending 72 minutes desperately wanting this dog to succeed, but I think thats the point the movie is making. Death is not something you can fight off with loyalty, sometimes people just fkn die, all you can do is accept it, keep going even when it hurts like hell, the movie does a really great job making you feel that complete helplessness from Indys limited perspective, he knows something is wrong, he tries everything he can to protect Todd but at the end of the day he is just a regular dog, theres only so much a dog can do against terminal illness on top of supernatural forces trying to fuck you up too. Its sad just sad, I was kinda pissed off that they didnt give Indy the happy ending he deserved. Does look like a very low budget movie but the numbers online are all over the place although wikipedia says $70 million, not much for a movie although not very low as others. Ben Leonberg and his team made something special and unique even if the pacing drags in the middle, the ending leaves you feeling completely empty. If your a dog person this movie is going to mess you up emotionally, if your not a dog person you will probably think its boring but I think theres real value in what they were trying to accomplish, its not perfect but its unique as hell, Indy gives one of the best animal performances I have seen in any horror movie period, that alone makes it worth checking out even if you end up hating how it wraps up.
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