The first trailer for Good Boy has come out, and fans don’t know whether to be left terrified or crying at the wholesome clips shown.
The film has an incredibly unique concept: the horror is told from the point of view of a dog that can see the fact that supernatural entities haunt its owner.
It follows a man, Todd, who moves with his dog to an old house once owned by his grandfather.
Despite warnings that the house is haunted, Todd ignores these and moves in anyway, leading supernatural forces to haunt him.
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As Indy, his dog, is the only one able to see these beings, he has to try and figure out how to protect his owner.
Co-written by director Ben Leonberg alongside Alex Cannon, the film stars Leonberg’s own dog, Indy, alongside the human lead, Shane Jensen, who plays Todd.
The first trailer features several shots of Indy as a puppy and with his owner Leonberg before transitioning to a terrifyingly quiet and tense scene of the dog being scared by a knocking at the door.
Leonberg has previously stated that the movie had a very simple pitch: “Do you ever wonder why your dog stares at empty corners, barks for no reason, or refuses to go into the basement?
“Good Boy is the story of a dog who sees everything that goes bump in the night.”
The trailer elicited a wide range of reactions, with many people making John Wick jokes.
One top comment on Reddit said: “I've never met this dog before, but I would literally die for him.”
Another added to that, saying: “The dog better live a good happy life at the end of the movie.”
A third fan responded on X, saying: “this looks sad asf. why are we all about to torture ourselves watching this?”
Others, however, were terrified by the trailer alone, with one fan responding saying: “Man, even the trailer scares me.”
The film debuted to stellar reviews, currently sitting at 95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com gave the film a very positive review after seeing it at Fantasia 2025, saying: “Part of the film’s terror, especially as it reaches its heartbreaking conclusion, is watching this furry innocent see its entire world come slowly crashing down around it, and not being able to comprehend why.”
Rafael Motomayor of IndieWire gave the film an A- grade in their review, saying: “What could have easily been a cheap gimmick instead provides the foundation for one of the best horror films so far this year.”
Nate Richard of Collider said of the horror: "This isn't a comedy or a parody, it's genuinely unnerving during certain segments."
Good Boy releases October 3rd.
Topics: Rotten Tomatoes, TV and Film, Film, Dogs
Michael Slavin