Good Boy Fetches Shadows in a Silent Haunted House

Good Boy

★ ★ ★

Good Boy took more than three years to film. It was shot in director Ben Leonberg’s home. It’s a haunted house horror film that doesn’t show us anything new or redefine the genre—except for one astounding choice. The main protagonist is a dog, and it’s told from the canine’s perspective. The unwritten rule in Hollywood is to never work with children and animals. Leonberg chose to ignore that rule, and it took him 400 shooting days to get his film in the can.

Good Boy offers an answer to what our furry friends are growling at when there’s nothing there.

Indy is played by Leonberg’s own dog, an incredibly well-trained Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. It’s a breed known for alert and expressive behavior—perfect for a dog obsessed with things his owner Todd (Shane Jensen) can’t see. Indy takes up most of the screen time since the whole story is told from his perspective.

Indy looking into the shadows
© 2025 Independent Film Company

Todd has had some health issues and decides to move into his grandfather’s home, something his sister Vera (Arielle Friedman) is adamantly against. Grandpa (Larry Fessenden) died in the house and it apparently has a dark history. It’s never quite explained what that history is, or what took Grandpa down. We get bits and pieces of it by design—similar to a dog’s response to our vocabulary – limited with just enough understanding to follow commands.

The more Todd lives in the house, the more ill he becomes, and the more concerned Indy seems to be for his well-being. Indy sees shadows move in the corners and occasionally gives us a glimpse of the supernatural presence within the walls. Indy tries to keep Todd safe as if it’s his life’s sole purpose. It’s hard to do when your only form of communication is a bark, growl or a tug at the pant legs.

Indy isn’t an actor. He’s not performing—and he’s certainly not emoting. He’s observing commands off-camera designed to give us the impression that this dog is one helluva performer. That said, Leonberg’s commitment—and his refusal to overwork Indy—are something to behold. He makes us believe Indy is giving an Oscar-worthy performance—a new kind of cinematic magic.

The film is shot well, evoking a dark, dreadful moodiness in its expert use of shadows. The dark corners don’t need high-end effects—just enough to make us question if we saw what we thought we saw.

Much of the acting seems to rely on ADR—dialogue re-recorded after filming—which gives some scenes a slightly detached feel. We never really see the faces of the humans in Indy’s life. It works on some level—giving us insight into Indy’s perspective. Otherwise, it hurts the human performances, often making them come off as stale and flat.

That doesn’t matter much. This is Indy’s show, and he owns the spotlight, even though he doesn’t know it.

Indy as himself in Good Boy
© 2025 Independent Film Company

The script is simple but effective. It’s certainly a story we’ve heard before: a man moves into a haunted house, things go bump in the night, and the fear turns out to be well-founded. That being said, this movie is not scary. There are certainly good moments of tension, but they never evolve into terror.

It’s also surprisingly short at a lean 73 minutes, barely long enough to be called feature length. But it feels like a complete film. Any longer and we’d lose interest in Indy—charming and wonderful as he is.

There’s an interesting parallel between Indy as himself—unaware he’s the star of a film—and his on-screen counterpart, equally oblivious to a world where he doesn’t try to save his master. In both cases, this dog is well behaved and deserving of the best Beggin’ Strips money can buy. On-screen and off, Indy is most certainly a very good boy.