The official trailer has arrived for the increasingly buzzed-about Good Boy, a haunted house horror story told from the point of view of a dog.
Watch the trailer above and read on for the details.
More on Screen Realm:
A haunted house through Indy’s eyes
Indy, a retriever, moves with his owner Todd into a long-abandoned family home in the countryside. From the start, Indy senses that something is wrong. He notices things his human companion can’t — strange movements in empty corners, ghostly warnings from a long-dead dog, and visions of the house’s disturbing history. As Todd begins to fall under the influence of the dark forces surrounding the home, Indy becomes the only line of defence against a presence intent on dragging his beloved human into the afterlife.
The director’s real-life dog takes the lead
The star of Good Boy is director Ben Leonberg’s own dog, Indy, who is making his feature debut after appearing in the short film that inspired this project. Leonberg, directing his first feature, explained that the idea grew out of a universal unease familiar to pet owners: “I think everybody who has had a pet has wondered or maybe worried why their dog was barking at nothing or staring at empty corners. We kind of wanted to explore that as just a core engine of the movie and spin it into a haunted house movie,” he told Deadline.
He also addressed the challenge of working with an untrained animal on set: “They say don’t work with kids or animals for a reason … the solution to that challenge was to build a production entirely around him.”
Festival buzz and the “goodest” debut
Good Boy premiered at SXSW earlier this year, where it was warmly received and quickly built strong word of mouth. The film currently holds a 95% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and Indy himself was awarded the festival’s inaugural canine honour. The jury praised the performance, saying that “through a uniquely authentic perspective in the horror genre, this goodest boy delivers a performance that is both natural and chilling.”
Alongside Indy, the film stars Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden, and Stuart Rudin. Leonberg co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Cannon.
Good Boy is set to be released in U.S. cinemas on October 3.
