Indy: Who plays Indy in Good Boy? Meet the star of the 2025 horror film

When a star of a film is a good boy, people can't simply resist watching it. We are talking about Ben Leonberg's upcoming directorial debut, Good Boy, where our lead protagonist is a dog called Indy. The film already had its premiere at the SXSW, and now it is set for a release on October 3, 2025, in theaters.

Interestingly, Ben didn't have to look long for his film's lead, as he found it roaming inside his house. He is the real-life owner of Indy. In March 2025, he gave an interview to Den of Geek, where he said,

"We got Indy, started writing the script, and thinking we should test out this concept. One of those proof of concept shorts won him an acting award and that kind of forced our hand."

The film is shot from the perspective of a dog. We will see him protecting his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), in the film from shadowy forces, of whom he is unaware.

How did Ben Leonberg come up with the Good Boy's concept?

While in the discussion, Leonberg also told Den of Geek about how he came up with the concept for the film. He said,

"I had had this idea for a horror movie told entirely from the perspective of a dog probably after watching Poltergeist, which begins with the Golden Retriever exploring the house and clearly aware that something’s going on before the humans are."

Thanks to his dog, who made this concept come to fruition.

Filming Good Boy was challenging

There's a different kind of challenge as a director when dealing with an actor who can't communicate other than in the terms 'woof-woof.' Regarding that, Leonberg says,

"The dog does not know he’s in a movie and he never will know he’s in a movie. So working with an actor who doesn’t agree on the reality of the premise that we’re making a film together is definitely challenging."

Despite this, it appears like the crew accepted the challenge and made one great movie, as its early Rotten Tomatoes score indicates. As of this writing, the film holds a 95% score at the review aggregator platform.

Indy will be seen saving his owner in the movie

In Good Boy, Indy has moved to a new place with his owner, his grandpa's farmhouse. Little does Todd know that they are surrounded by malevolent forces, which only Indy can see.

Todd initially ignores the warning about the house being haunted. His decision to move comes after the death of a family member and his being ill at the previous apartment where he was living with Indy.

Is there another movie like Good Boy?

As a matter of fact, there is a similar movie like Good Boy called Presence (2024), directed by Steven Soderbergh. While this movie is shown from the perspective of a dog, Presence is shown from the perspective of a ghost in the house at the center of the film. This unique concept was a commercial success, as it garnered $10.8 million against a $2 million budget.