Ben Leonberg says it took him 400 shooting days to film his 73 minute debut. That’s due to his protagonist, the director’s dog, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever named Indy, which won him the “Howl of Fame Award” invented just for him for the best dog acting at the SXSW Film Festival. Indy is a loyal and lovable dog, not the youngest anymore, and his prevailing mood is being worried. With distrustful, squinty eyes, he follows his very ill master Todd, as he moves back to the remote estate of his dead grandfather. While Todd doesn’t seem to notice anything unusual, Indy takes in the dangerous vibes – shadows grow and disappear in the corner of the room, scary creatures attack the living, and Indy keeps dreaming of ghostly figures from the past in his dreams. Carefully, curiously, and somewhat fearfully, Indy pursues them, while Todd keeps deteriorating and watches VHS tapes of “The Twilight Zone” on an old tube TV.

GOOD BOY is completely told from Indy’s perspective, which doesn’t mean that the camera moves on the dog’s level and remains in the house when Todd locks Indy there, but also, that a lot remains ambiguous. The human conversations only reach Indy in fragments, some fears turn out to be premature, like the neighbor who was only out hunting in camouflage clothing, while other signs cannot be properly interpreted. Is the evil coming from inside or outside, from the past or present? The only thing that’s clear is this: there’s something not good happening and Indy has to help Todd.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy