Good Boy

This is a lean, taut suspense film--only 80 minutes long, and more than half of that is truly suspenseful and unnerving. There are only four actors in the movie, and they all do an excellent job of seeming like real people with real motivations, blind spots, and flaws. For the most part, writer/director Viljar Bøe does an excellent job of showing us things that don't quite make sense and convincing us that it's not necessarily irrational or unreasonable. He creates a feeling akin to being seduced into a toxic relationship, where in hindsight you realize how abundant all the red flags were but in the moment you're willing to rationalize and excuse every individual one. If this is allegorical horror, then its allegory is for the poor "NTA" victims on the Reddit thread "Am I The A**H***?", who post detailed narratives of having been gaslit by psychopaths yet seem totally clueless about the blame not being their own.

That said, once the mystery is revealed about midway through the movie, the movie does lose a great deal of its suspense as characters quickly devolve into horror movie stereotypes. While the second half is disappointing, it's not so bad that it brings the whole film down--plus, the final moments are fresh and surprising enough that they'll guarantee the film's haunting images will stick with you for a few days. On top of that, Bøe's writing wisely leaves a lot of backstory unsaid, leaving audiences with plenty of queasy questions that they won't want to think about the answers to. A lesser film would feel the need to tidy things up more.

I'd recommend this for anyone who's into disturbing thrillers. The strong acting, masterful editing, and original premise are enough to earn a solid recommendation, even if the final act doesn't fully live up to the movie's promised potential. I eagerly anticipate Bøe's next film.

A fresh and unsettling take on creepiness, gradually blurring the lines between normal and unnatural. As the story unfolds, I found myself sympathizing with the protagonist's desire for love, despite the bizarre situation at her boyfriend's home. The film creates a thrilling atmosphere, keeping you on edge as the tone shifts from sweet to chilling to psychotic, with each new development heightening the tension. The unexpected twist leaves a lasting impact, leaving me still puzzled by its strange conclusion. A strong, captivating effort by the director that keeps you questioning everything until the end.

This small thriller tells the story of Sigrid, who meets this mysterious and charming guy on Tinder, only to discover that his dog is a real human being using a costume. Even with her instinct telling her to run away, she starts a relation with this guy.

Despite starting very strong at building the mystery and intrigue, by the third act you will see the same clichés of every thriller and horror movie that really ruin the atmosphere and logic. Once you see this, you can really anticipate how will end, and it ends very stupid.

The good thing is that is a very short movie so I would still recommend it to watch it at least one time.

I've watched Good Boy in Lisbon during the horror festival MotelX. I had some expectations because the whole idea of having someone dressing up as a dog called my attention while scrolling through the movie list.

The flick starts great - the cinematography, atmosphere, acting and humorous moments felt truly genuine and you could feel the audience feeling it as well.

It keeps you curious on why the hell this guy has a person in his house wearing a dog custom, and your imagination starts wondering if it's really a human or another "thing".

It develops pretty well and you can tell the moment when it all turns south, this is perhaps the part that I didn't enjoy so much. When we all knew what was going on, I felt the acting went a bit too much and not in the best way. In my opinion, it didn't reach that "insane" psychopath status that leaves actors in the best performance lists. Even though there were some good parts in it.

Overall, still one of the best horror flicks I've watched this year, much more interesting than most high budget movies out there. Someone mentioned it was Viljar Bøe 3rd movie, which is insane in my perspective, in a good way.

I tend to not do spoilers, so I won't spoil. Within 5 minutes, I was absolutely captivated. It's rare to watch a movie that I picked at random and say to myself "WTF?.... Oh, yes!".

Now, that may suggest there is something wrong with me, I'm not sure - but all I can say is that Good Boy is a rare find. It's truly original, not necessarily in a good way, but original.

This is not only a sick film, twisted in so many ways, but the acting, direction, plot twists, and well - the whole thing is something to be enjoyed. Excellent production quality and the scenery is quite lovely from an American's view.

All I can say is that I think you will come away loving your dog even more - although I'm not sure that has anything to do with anything.