Once again, innovation strikes in the horror genre with Good Boy (now streaming on Hulu, in addition to VOD platforms like Amazon Prime Video), a clever little thriller told entirely from the perspective of a dog. Director Ben Leonberg cast his own pup, Indy, in the title role, and goes so far as to speculate a bit about how a dog might see the world differently from humans โ and itโs more than just butt-sniffing and Milk Bones. If youโve ever wondered why your dog seems to be staring at nothing in the corner over there, well, Leonberg presents a theory, and itโs pretty compelling.
GOOD BOY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: It doesnโt happen until fairly deep into the movie, but I need to declare this right away: The Itโs Only A Dream rug-pulling gimmick is only acceptable when itโs a dog dream. In fact, the dog in this story, Indy, sometimes experiences the world like heโs in a David Lynch film โ things sometimes donโt make sense from our human POV. But letโs not get too far ahead of ourselves here. Indyโs owner is Todd (Shane Jensen), who we first meet slumped over on the couch, unconscious and drooling blood. He appears to have some sort of chronic lung condition. Toddโs sister Vera (Arielle Friedman) takes him to the hospital, and even brings Indy for a visit. Itโs worth noting that the camera tends to stay knee-high, and we rarely see a humanโs unobscured face in the film. We see what Indy sees, or we watch Indyโs highly expressive eyes as he looks at things. What is he thinking? Well, go ahead, start your theorizinโ.
After he gets out of the hospital, Todd relocates to his late grandfatherโs house deep in the woods, on a what? Yes: A dark and stormy night. Itโs a bit leaky over here, cozy over there, and creaky and creepy in plenty of places, especially the basement and the room thatโs loaded with taxidermy. Gramps had a thing for stuffing animals, and making home movies; the place is stuffed…