Good Boy: dog's POV horror heads to wide release

A supernatural thriller told from the perspective of a family’s dog is heading to wide release after a viral trailer sparked strong audience demand. Good Boy, directed by Ben Leonberg and built around Indy, the director’s own Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, premiered at SXSW to strong notices and has since evolved from a limited engagement into a broad theatrical release, with US theaters slated for October 3 and earlier UK plans for October 10. The expanded rollout comes as Shudder and IFC have positioned the film as a standout entry in a growing wave of independent horror that experiments with form and point of view.

Indy stars as more than a loyal companion in Good Boy. The plot follows his owner Todd as the two move from urban life to a rural family home where a malevolent presence begins to manifest in ways only the dog seems able to perceive. The production team built the film around Indy’s distinctive performances, extending filming over more than 400 days and even using Leonberg’s home as a stand-in environment to capture authentic reactions. The director and producer Kari Fischer, who also served as a producer, staged the shoot to maximize Indy’s natural behavior,...