A dog’s uncanny instincts take centre stage in Good Boy, a supernatural horror film directed by Ben Leonberg in his feature directorial debut. The latest poster teases a chilling but straightforward premise: trust the dog.
The story follows Indy, the film’s canine lead, as he embarks on a life-changing move with his owner and best friend, Todd. Leaving behind the city, the pair relocate to a long-abandoned family home in the countryside. From the outset, two things are clear — Indy is deeply suspicious of the creaking old house, and his devotion to Todd is absolute.
“After moving in, Indy is immediately vexed by empty corners, tracks an invisible presence only he can see, perceives phantasmagoric warnings from a long-dead dog, and is haunted by visions of the previous occupant’s grim death,” reads the synopsis for the movie. “When Todd begins succumbing to the dark forces swirling around the house, Indy must battle a malevolence intent on dragging his beloved Todd into the afterlife.”
The cast includes Leonberg’s own dog, Indy, alongside indie horror veteran Larry Fessenden (You’re Next), Shane Jensen (Four), and Arielle Friedman (Gaza: Health Under Siege), with Leonberg also co-writing the screenplay alongside Alex Cannon (The F-Word).
In a statement, Leonberg reflected on the unusual production process: “When your lead actor is a dog, traditional filmmaking rules go out the window: For three years, my wife (also the film’s producer) and I worked around his schedule — eliciting his ‘performance’ by making silly noises, posing him in specific positions, and enticing him around our ‘haunted’ house with treats. All shots with Indy were captured on closed sets so that we could maintain his focus, and I only ended up acting in it because I’m one of two people Indy truly loves and listens to. Fortunately, I’ve always believed the best films emerge because of their constraints, not in spite of them. Horror, in particular, thrives on ingenuity over budget.”
Catch Indy the dog starring as the titular Good Boy when the film arrives in theatres on 3 October 2025.
Conversation with Ting Wei is like chatting with a weird AI bot programmed only with One Piece lore and theories, sitcom quotes and other miscellaneous pop culture references. When he’s not sleeping, he’s highly likely reading manga. In fact, the only thing he reads more than manga is the Bible, and it’s honestly pretty close.
Kevin Low
