GOOD BOY

Winner, Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller (Indy the Dog), 2026 Astra Awards; Nominee, Best Editing, 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards; Top Ten Independent Film, 2025 National Board of Review Awards

If the Oscars® had a category for Best Canine Performance, GOOD BOY’s Indy (director Ben Leonberg’s own dog, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever also named Indy) would surely be leading the 2026 pack. Inspired by repeat viewings of POLTERGEIST, Leonberg’s debut feature turns what might have been a run-of-the-mill ghost story into a quietly unsettling, emotionally rich experience that explores and subverts the trope of canine ESP, crafting a haunted-house narrative told almost entirely from Indy’s point of view. When Indy’s owner Todd (Shane Jensen) retreats to a remote home left to him by his grandfather to recover from a troubling illness, strange occurrences begin to fracture the pair’s quiet routine. Rather than relying on overt scares, Leonberg keeps the camera close to Indy’s height, using partial views, blurred backgrounds and expressive close-ups to suggest unseen threats. The result is an eerie, intimate film that reframes the genre through the eyes of a watchful companion who senses danger long before anyone else. After debuting at 2025’s SXSW festival, where Indy’s performance earned the Howl of Fame Award, GOOD BOY shot to broader public attention when its first trailer went viral, prompting IFC Entertainment to modify its initial release plans and earning the company its second-best opening weekend gross in history. The film has since enjoyed critical acclaim, making it onto the shortlists of multiple critics associations and picking up awards including Best in Show from the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards and the Good Boy, Great Filmmaking Award from PETA. DIR/SCR/PROD Ben Leonberg; SCR Alex Cannon; PROD Kari Fischer. U.S., 2025, color, 73 min. RATED PG-13

Run Time: 73 Minutes

Opening Date: Friday, February 06, 2026

Genre: Horror

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