Good Boy captured hearts final 12 months by displaying a horror movie from the angle of a canine. DIrected by Ben Leonberg, the star of the movie is his personal canine companion, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy. Good Boy went viral following the discharge of its preliminary trailer resulting from considerations about Indy’s security, and the thrill paid off after it turned one of many highest-grossing Shudder movies of all time.
Just lately, Indy obtained a novel honor for his convincing portrayal. The canine actor received an Astra Movie Award for Finest Efficiency in a Horror or Thriller, a class historically reserved for human actors. Indy received towards main contenders equivalent to Alison Brie, Sally Hawkins, Ethan Hawke, and Sophie Thatcher.
Although Indy’s efficiency was well-received, it was not simple to seize on movie. Per Leonberg, Indy “can solely movie for a really small variety of hours a day, so the movie [had] to stretch over a for much longer interval than a traditional movie would.”
“We’re solely filming one to 3 hours a day,” he continued. “We did it over three years, over 400 days.” The director then defined how, although “he can do instructions,” plenty of his scenes had been rigorously directed to take care of the phantasm.
“It is also about getting what seems to be a efficiency, which is coming from him, but additionally coming from the viewers and the filmmaking, as a result of the viewers tasks their very own emotions onto him,” Leonberg defined. “By means of the ability of filmmaking and cinematic shot development, you may present his standpoint. We return to the target shot of him, of his face, there’s a clean expression in actuality, however the viewers [says], ‘That canine is scared,’ regardless that he’s not; you’re scared.“
Earlier this 12 months, “Indy” additionally penned a letter asking for Academy Award consideration, stating that they need to “acknowledge the wealthy and complicated contributions of our canine thespians.” The letter additionally notes that animal actors total “stay largely absent from [the Academy’s] yearly accolades, unrecognized for [their] craft, and left in [his] smaller however nonetheless enough home by the Academy at giant.”
Although whether or not his plea might be heard is unknown, Indy’s Astra Award, in addition to his particular “Howl of Fame” Award on the 2025 SXSW Movie & TV Pageant, showcases the arduous work that each he and Leonberg put into making Good Boy a memorable movie.
Good Boy is out there to stream on Shudder and AMC+.
Good Boy
6/10
- Launch Date
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October 3, 2025
- Runtime
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73 minutes
- Director
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Ben Leonberg
- Writers
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Alex Cannon, Ben Leonberg
