The director of 2025’s viral residence invasion horror film Good Boy has spoiled whether or not the canine is okay after a powerful Google search spike. Instructed from a canine’s perspective, the Ben Leonberg debut movie follows Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who strikes together with his proprietor Todd to an previous, rural home the place the canine senses one thing supernatural lurking.
Good Boy premiered at SXSW in March 2025 and at the moment holds a 95 % Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The horror film is about to be launched theatrically on October, 3, 2025. Nonetheless, after the trailer dropped, Google searches for “Does the canine in Good Boy die?” surged by over 2000 %, fueling viral buzz round Indy’s destiny within the movie.
Now, in an interview with CinemaBlend, director Ben Leonberg has confirmed the canine in Good Boy does make it to the top of the movie. Leonberg states that he was shocked by the viral Google search, however “it’s been pleasant,” and he discusses why he thinks Indy’s destiny grew to become such a priority amongst audiences. Try his assertion under:
I feel it does communicate to what horror motion pictures have skilled us to suppose occurs to most canine in horror motion pictures, which is to say the entire movie is constructed on this trope of, , ‘Hey, you know the way your canine may stare into an empty nook? Or you know the way in horror motion pictures, there’s that canine who’s at all times suspicious of the basement or suspicious of that bizarre previous neighbor?’ Normally that canine in horror motion pictures doesn’t make it out of act one.
Leonberg stated the stakes feeling actual was an essential a part of Good Boy, however spoiling Indy’s survival doesn’t take away from the movie. He in contrast the idea to the Mission: Not possible motion pictures, in that you just anticipate Tom Cruise to outlive, however “the filmmaking nonetheless has to allow you to suppose he may fall off that airplane and die, doubtlessly for actual.”
What This Means For Good Boy
For a lot of potential viewers, the looming risk of Indy dying in Good Boy is a dealbreaker. Due to this fact, Leonberg’s assurance means the filmmakers have expanded the movie’s attain past hardcore horror followers to incorporate informal viewers, pet lovers, and those that usually keep away from emotionally devastating content material, which might assist Good Boy maintain its viral momentum with out alienating a part of its viewers.
Leonberg additionally assures that the truth that Indy survives doesn’t diminish the tension. The suspense stays rooted in how he avoids hazard, protects his proprietor, and processes the risk that neither he nor Todd totally understands. The hazard is actual, the stakes are excessive, and the strain is sustained even with out the specter of a tragic, and horror cliché ending.
Our Take On Ben Leonberg Spoiling Good Boy
Ben Leonberg’s choice to spoil a key component of Good Boy—specifically, the survival of its four-legged star—may appear counterintuitive in a style constructed on secrecy and shock. However on this case, it feels extra like a considerate selection than a advertising misstep, because it demonstrates confidence in his storytelling and compassion for his viewers, who are sometimes blindsided by horror.
Furthermore, this spoiler doesn’t diminish the movie. If something, it could enable viewers to focus extra deeply on the journey, quite than nervously awaiting an inevitable intestine punch. After all, some will argue that the spoiler is an excessive amount of. However for Good Boy, it’s a movie that doesn’t depend on useless cruelty so as to create severe horror-filled rigidity.
- 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
