Unpacking the Weird, Ambiguous Ending Of ‘Good Boy’

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS

I know what you’re thinking – does the dog die? Let me save you the suspense. No, he doesn’t. Indy makes it out of Good Boy just fine, albeit, I suspect, with some lingering emotional trauma. But there’s a lot more to consider in the movie’s ending besides that, since it’s deliberately weird and vague about the source of Todd’s illness, the fate of his grandfather, and whatever muddy supernatural entity is haunting the family’s remote woodland cabin.

There are metaphors here, I feel sure, images and themes that suggest generational trauma and seeping emotional rot, but nothing’s very clear and coherent. Whether that’s due to the film unfolding from the viewpoint of a dog or because writer-director Ben Leonberg had loftier intentions for his micro-budget feature, which was Shudder’s second-most successful ever after a brief theatrical run, is open to interpretation. That’s what we’re here for.

Again, The Dog Doesn’t Die

At the risk of repeating myself, it’s important to reiterate that Indy, who is Leonberg’s family dog, makes it out unscathed. I should probably also mention that most of the scenes in which Indy is seen to be suffering in some way, such as being left outside in the rain, were clever illusions facilitated with harmless sprinklers. He never saw any ghosts or had nightmares. Probably, anyway.

It might be reassuring that Good Boy isn’t really about Indy anyway, despite being named after him and his being the protagonist. It’s really about his owner, Todd, who is beset by some kind of vague, presumably inherited illness that is gradually destroying his body and mind. Through a neighbour, Todd learns that his grandfather’s body was discovered in the woods after he died, but his dog, Bandit, was never found. Bandit wears a bandana to differentiate him from Indy, and I have less positive news about his fate, but to be fair, we don’t see anything bad happen to him in real-time.

Todd Dies From His Illness (Probably)

Towards the end of Good Boy, things really kick into gear. Todd, after coughing up blood a few times and becoming increasingly short-tempered with Indy, chains the poor pup outside in the rain. However, Indy, chased by what he perceives to be a ghost or some kind of swamp monster, manages to free himself. The only way back inside is through the cellar door, where he discovers Bandit’s skeletal remains.

Upstairs, he finds Todd, who seems pleased to see him. However, in the reflection of the TV, Todd catches a glimpse of his own dead body on the bed, blood crusted around his nose. Suddenly, Todd is pulled downstairs by the mysterious muddy entity. Indy gives chase, following the two of them down to a mysterious crack in the basement wall, which Todd is dragged through while becoming increasingly covered in muck. In a parting message, he tells Indy he’s a good boy, but that he can’t save him.

Luckily, Todd’s sister, Vera, arrives shortly after and finds Indy trapped in the locked basement. He is reluctant to leave his owner behind, but eventually follows Vera out into the daylight, avoiding the same fate as Bandit, who obviously died of starvation on top of the cellar steps.

It’s All A Metaphor

Remember, Good Boy unfolds exclusively from Indy’s perspective. My theory on the ending is that we’re seeing a dog’s interpretation of what it feels like for their owner to become sick and die.

Todd’s illness is weird. He coughs up blood all the time, and there are some other clues that it’s a respiratory issue, but it completely changes his behaviour in sometimes extreme ways that mimic demonic possession (including, at one point, beating his own head against the basement door). I think it’s probably telling that his dead body shows him having been bleeding from the nose, though. Given the behavioural changes, I imagine it’s some kind of brain condition.

But Indy doesn’t know this. From the dog’s perspective, the illness manifests as something evil and mysterious coming to harm his owner and take him away. What he’s seeing is not a ghost, but a manifestation of his confusion over what’s happening to Todd. Probably, anyway. There’s some evidence to support this theory, such as Todd’s corpse being literally present in the bed, seen multiple times, and the fact that the neighbour confirmed his grandfather’s body was discovered in the woods. So, neither man disappeared mysteriously as though they were really dragged into that hole in the basement.

Bandit’s body implies that he must have experienced a very similar thing when his own owner became terminally ill. He, too, interpreted the death of Todd’s grandfather as him being dragged away by a monster, but unfortunately, there was nobody to open the cellar doors for him, and he starved to death inside.

Hey, I told you the dog survived. I didn’t say the movie had a happy ending.