Good Boy (2025)
Directed by Ben Leonberg
No — Good Boy is not woke, scoring 11 out of 100 on our wokeness meter.
Good Boy is a seventy-three-minute supernatural horror picture in which a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy plays himself, and does so with an intensity that has already been rewarded by an industry body that had previously only ever recognized humans.
Consciousness Markers
The film centers on a real dog, Indy, whose performance is the primary focus, representing a significant departure from traditional human-centric casting, though it is not a direct social justice statement.
As a low-budget independent success, it represents a small victory for non-studio filmmaking, but it does not engage in any substantive critique of global capitalism.
There is no discernible representation or thematic exploration of LGBTQ+ identities or relationships within the narrative.
The female characters are supportive or involved in the production, but the film contains no critique of patriarchal structures or feminist agendas.
The film makes no commentary on race, ethnicity, or racial dynamics, focusing instead on supernatural and familial themes.
While the setting is rural and involves the woods, the film offers no commentary or 'crusade' regarding environmental degradation or climate change.
The film focuses on the physical decline of the human character due to illness, but it does not promote body positivity or challenge conventional beauty standards.
Todd suffers from a chronic lung disease and mental distress, but this is not framed through the lens of neurodivergence or related social advocacy.
The film is a fictional supernatural horror piece and does not attempt to correct or re-examine any established historical narratives.
The film relies on atmosphere, action, and point-of-view cinematography rather than didactic speeches or overt social commentary.
Why it received this score
Good Boy is a seventy-three-minute supernatural horror picture in which a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy plays himself, and does so with an intensity that has already been rewarded by an industry body that had previously only ever recognized humans. The film's boldest structural decision is its casting. A dog carries the picture. Human performers are framed below the waist for most of the runtime, and the camera crouches to Indy's eye level because that is where the movie lives. This is a real departure from the human-centric conventions of the form, and we record it as such without inflating it into a statement the film never bothers to make.
On the matter of social messaging, the ledger comes back empty. The rural setting, with its woods and fox traps, invites an environmental reading, and the film declines the invitation. Todd's chronic lung disease invites a conversation about the body and its failures, and the film treats it as mortality, not as advocacy. Vera is a concerned sister with agency and a telephone, and no one involved seems interested in interrogating patriarchy through her. Race, sexuality, and the historical record go unremarked. That is not a criticism. It is an inventory. The thing is a haunted house picture with a wet skeletal figure in the shadows and a dog who senses it first.
Where a faint pulse of contemporary sensibility does register is economic. A seventy thousand dollar production, shot across three years in the director's own New Jersey home, with the director and his wife performing the human roles on camera and dubbing voices in later, grossing nearly nine million dollars, is a quiet rebuke to studio machinery. This is not a critique of capital. It is a receipt. We note it and move on.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Synopsis
A loyal dog moves to a rural family home with his owner Todd, only to discover supernatural forces lurking in the shadows. As dark entities threaten his human companion, the brave pup must fight to protect the one he loves most.
Questions about Good Boy
Is Good Boy woke?
No — Good Boy is not woke, scoring 11 out of 100 on our wokeness meter. That earns it a verdict of Ultra Based.
Does Good Boy have any woke elements?
1 of the 10 markers register at 30 or above, led by Representation Casting (40). On Representation Casting: The film centers on a real dog, Indy, whose performance is the primary focus, representing a significant departure from traditional human-centric casting, though it is not a direct social justice statement.
How does Good Boy compare to other 2025 movies?
It ranks #157 of the 217 films from 2025 we've scored; their average is 26. The wokest is STRAW (92).
How is the Woke Score calculated?
An AI-assisted process researches the film and its reception, scores it 0–100 on ten markers, then combines those into one 0–100 Woke Score. It measures a specific set of 2020s cultural themes, not film quality.