Good Boy (2025) on Netflix
Todd, who has a chronic lung disease, moves with his dog Indy to his late grandfather's house in the woods. Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, senses a dark presence inside.
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- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb6.1/1037,160 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
A Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy travels from New York City with his owner Todd to the rural house in the woods that belonged to Todd's late grandfather. Todd lives with a chronic lung disease, and his sister Vera fears the isolation of the place, which she believes is haunted. Inside, Indy notices shadows and a dark, skeletal figure coated in mud. On a walk through the woods, the neighbor Richard warns Todd about the fox traps he has laid out, and says he was the man who came upon the grandfather's body, and that the grandfather's Golden Retriever, Bandit, vanished around the same time. Todd's health declines.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Good Boy (2025)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Indy the dog won Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller at the 9th Astra Film Awards, becoming the first animal ever to be nominated for and win a major film acting award that had only recognized human performers; he accepted on video with Leonberg.
- Good Boy was filmed in Leonberg's home in Harding Township, New Jersey, over a three-year period from April 2021 to August 2024, more than 400 days of filming, because Indy had no double and had to portray himself in every scene.
- Because Indy would only perform certain actions for his real-life owners, Leonberg and Fischer physically played most of the human characters on camera themselves, with the credited actors' voices added later in post-production.
- Leonberg cast his own dog, Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, as the film's lead after Indy starred in Leonberg's entry for The Rode Reel online short film competition, which won the Judges' Film Prize and a financial award that helped fund the feature.
- Leonberg directed Indy by making bizarre noises and saying unfamiliar words in strange vocal tones to get natural reactions, using a toy dog to steer him; a stuffed replica nicknamed 'Findy' stood in for Indy while shots were set up and stunts were performed.
- Good Boy was set for only a limited theatrical release until its trailer and poster achieved the largest reach in Independent Film Company's history, which led the company to give the film a wide theatrical release instead.
