Ben Leonberg's horror film 'Good Boy', which premiered at the SXSW festival, has been released in Russian theaters. Read our review to find out whether the filmmakers managed to realize their bold idea in the horror genre.

In the plot of the film 'Good Boy', after moving with his owner Todd (Shane Jensen) to a dilapidated house in the countryside, the loyal dog Indie encounters terrifying entities lurking within the walls. As soon as these forces begin to pose a threat to Todd, the brave pet challenges them to protect his owner.

If you've ever noticed your pet staring into space for no reason or suddenly darting off, you're probably familiar with that slight chill running down your spine. Zoologists have long found a rational explanation for this phenomenon: animals, especially dogs, can perceive high-frequency sounds (above 20 kHz) that are inaudible to the human ear, and the same applies to other senses. Nevertheless, for centuries people have believed that these odd behaviors warn owners of the presence of supernatural forces in the house. Since the idea of making a horror film entirely from the perspective of a four-legged friend was obvious, the appearance of something like this was only a matter of time.

'Good Boy' is a clear example of a horror film that relies on a simple but intriguing high-concept with a shift in perspective. As a rule, all these innovative tricks are very difficult to marry with a feature-length format, because the idea alone, no matter how interesting it looks on paper, is clearly not enough to produce a good genre product. In this vein, one immediately recalls the sensational experiments like Kyle Edward Ball's 'Skinamarink' or Steven Soderbergh's 'Presence', where style and visuals triumphed over meaning. The debut film by Ben Leonberg suffers from the same flaw.

If you remove the main gimmick of the dog's perspective from the equation, 'Good Boy' turns out to be a standard haunted house horror film. The typical plot unfolds by the numbers: a man moves into a sinister shack — and not just anywhere, but, of course, deep in the forest, far from civilization and next to an abandoned cemetery — after which he encounters paranormal phenomena. All this action, of course, is foreshadowed by a mysterious flashforward in the prologue. However, no one promised that the story's framework would consist of revelations. Therefore, it would be unreasonable to unleash all the dogs on a film whose calling card is not the deconstruction of common genre clichés, but merely a change in perspective.

The main star of the film is undoubtedly the dog named Indie. His piercing gaze, filled with anxiety and curiosity, can melt the heart of any viewer (even a die-hard cat person). Human faces are almost never shown, allowing us to focus on the emotions of the four-legged protagonist. For his outstanding performance, Indie received a special award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival. In general, watching how perfectly four-legged actors 'perform' on screen, one inevitably wonders: isn't it time to establish a special cinematic award, like the Cannes Palm Dog, that would honor the performers themselves and their trainers?

Apart from the mystical plot details, the film reveals a touching story of how a dog reacts to the suffering of its owner, who is about to depart to the afterlife due to an incurable illness. The poor dog, languishing with longing, never takes his eyes off the window, hoping to see the return of his friend who has gone for tests. Every rustle makes him flinch, anxious dreams torment his soul, and his heart knows no peace. Indie selflessly fights death itself, trying to snatch his owner from its clutches, not realizing that the latter's days are already numbered.

It feels as if the director crossed 'Hachi: A Dog's Tale' with the animated series 'Courage the Cowardly Dog' and brought to light a charming but overly decorative breed that can't even properly scare. If Ben Leonberg aimed for his debut film to be hailed as 'a new word in the horror genre,' then, alas, no sensation occurred: the wow effect from the unconventional approach fades quite quickly as the film progresses, revealing its simplicity. Nevertheless, with all due reservations, the experiment turned out to be noteworthy and hardly deserves to be attacked with vehement criticism.