Can animals see the dead? In Good Boy, his directorial debut, Ben Leonberg brings us to a haunted house where a beloved dog must protect his human from unseen terror.
Good Boy
Can animals see the dead? I’ll let you decide after this review of Good Boy and my own experience with my dog. Good Boy is a 2025 American supernatural horror film directed by Ben Leonberg, co-written by Leonberg and Alex Cannon, and starring Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden, and Indy (Leonberg’s Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever). The film will be released in the United States on October 4 by Independent Film Company and Shudder.
What makes this horror film different is that the story plays out from Indy’s perspective. Everything that happens from the time that Todd (Shane Jensen) arrives at his grandfather’s old, abandoned farmhouse is felt and seen by the dog. The film is only 72 minutes, but the horror and confusion felt by Indy are more palpable than horror stories with only human actors. We know that Todd is sick from the constant calls he receives from his sister, Vera (Arielle Friedman). Vera is worried about Todd living alone in the house. What we do surmise through the phone calls is that Todd’s grandfather’s (Larry Fessenden) house is rumoured to be cursed. The cause of the grandfather’s death is a mystery, as is the whereabouts of the grandfather’s dog, which was never found.
Dogs are loyal protectors of their humans, but I don’t think people realize just how smart and aware our animals are. It isn’t long after moving into the farmhouse that we see Indy becoming aware of the dangers this house holds for Todd. But how can Indy protect Todd when she is unable to relay what she sees and hears?
Conclusion
Good Boy was freaking scary, and not only because of the things that go bump in the night. I love ghost stories, but when an animal is in danger, my stress levels skyrocket. Is Indy able to protect herself and Todd from the horror within that farmhouse?
I am putting on my Psychic/Medium hat now to tell you a true animal ghost story. My Chihuahua, Snowflake, was always able to see spirits at the same exact time that I did. Sometimes, she alerted me before I was aware. I had a close friend who was a dog lover. Whenever she would visit, Snowflake would growl at her. My other dogs were fine with her, but not Snowflake. I wasn’t picking up anything around my friend, but you can’t trick a dog. It wasn’t until a long road trip that I had gone on with my friend that I picked up this angry spirit that was in the car with us…and…actually influencing my friend’s mood. When I described the spirit, my friend told me it was her dead mother-in-law, with whom she never got along.
Snowflake wasn’t growling at my friend, but at the spirit who was following her. A good smudging and special prayer solved that problem, and my dog became more open to my friend’s visits. After my husband passed away, Snowflake, who was very attached to my husband, began to fail. Dogs can also get congestive heart failure, but I think it was grief that finally took that little girl. She still visits me…when I’m sick or feeling sad. I feel her snuggling up to me while I sleep.
Good Boy is a film that you must watch if you love horror stories — and if you love animals.
