‘Good Boy’ follows a dog who senses danger before humans do | The Haunted Column

‘Good Boy’, directed by Ben Leonberg, does something very simple and surprisingly effective. It asks the audience to trust a dog’s reactions more than a human character’s explanations. That choice alone changes how the film works.
The story follows Todd, played by Shane Jensen, who moves into a new house with his dog, Indy. On paper, it sounds like the beginning of a familiar horror setup. A quiet place. Too much space. Too much silence. But the film avoids signalling danger in obvious ways. Nothing dramatic happens at first. The house looks normal. The surroundings feel calm. The unease begins only when Indy enters the space.

Indy does not bark or panic. He just refuses to relax. He stops at certain doorways. He stares at areas of the house that appear empty. He reacts to sounds that do not seem important enough to worry about. These moments are treated as part of daily life, not as scare cues. The film does not underline them with music or editing tricks. It lets them sit there.

Leonberg’s direction stays close to the ground, often framing scenes at the dog’s level. This limits what the audience sees and understands. There are no explanations handed out early on. Viewers are left watching behaviour instead of waiting for answers. That restraint is where the film finds its tension.

The emotional core of ‘Good Boy’ lies in the mismatch between Todd and Indy. Todd responds to the house like most people would. He settles in. He rationalises odd moments. He keeps moving forward. Indy stays alert. His loyalty keeps him close, even when his instincts are clearly telling him that something is wrong. The dog is not treated as a sidekick or a device. He is the one doing the work of noticing.

The supernatural elements remain minimal and mostly off-screen. The film is not interested in building a detailed mythology or explaining the rules of the haunting. The presence in the house feels invasive rather than dramatic. It grows stronger as it continues to be ignored. That approach keeps the focus on how danger often becomes real only after it has been dismissed for too long.

What stands out most is how ordinary the fear feels. There are no heroic moments or clever solutions. The tension comes from small, repeated failures to listen. Indy cannot explain what he senses. Todd cannot accept what he cannot prove. That gap drives the film forward.

‘Good Boy’ does not reinvent the genre, and it does not try to. Its strength lies in how patiently it observes behaviour and lets discomfort build. By the end, the film’s most unsettling idea is also its simplest. Sometimes the warning signs are obvious. They are just not taken seriously.