[Film Review] FrightFest: Good Boy (2022)

One of the most anticipated features among attendees to this year’s FrightFest, Viljar Bøe’s Good Boy, is a bizarre and unsettling Norwegian thriller that will have even the most ardent of dog lovers think twice before letting their pooch sleep in the same bed.

Good Boy follows Sigrid (Katrine Lovise Opstad Fredriksen), a young woman navigating the often-disheartening world of dating, who is overjoyed when she matches with Christian (Gard Løkke), on paper the perfect man: a kind, handsome millionaire heir who lives alone with his dog, Frank. Frank loves scritches, bedtime snuggles and sharing snacks with his beloved best human friend. The only catch? The cute and cuddly pup is in fact a grown man in a dog costume. However, after Christian reassures an understandably confused Sigrid that there is no sexual element to the pair’s relationship, the psychology student puts her concerns to the side and accepts Frank’s quirks. After all, Christian and his dog seem perfectly content with their respective roles as owner and pet and nobody’s getting hurt, right?

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While we’re introduced to Frank very early in the film, Good Boy takes its sweet time building tension and anxiety, playing its cards close to its chest throughout.  A restrained and stylish palette keeps the outlandish plot feeling rooted in realism, centered around a relatable and empathetic performance from Fredriksen and Løkke, who, looking like a lost Skarsgård brother, brings a charm and intensity to Christian that makes any questionable decisions on Sigrid’s part totally believable. Even Frank, in all his uncanniness, goes from creepy abomination to beloved family pupper, as Bøe lures his audience into a false sense of security the further we become invested in this unconventional family unit. 

Naturally, the bliss is short-lived, and as Sigrid discovers the truth behind Christian and Frank’s relationship, Good Boy unravels into a disturbing exploration of emotional gaslighting and the abuse of power. A Michael Haneke-esque streak of dry irony and humour only reinforces Good Boy’s feel of mundane discomfort and for women watching, Sigrid’s self-doubt as she tries to reckon with her own internal alarm bells and convince herself she’s just overreacting will undoubtedly strike a sense of familiarity. Sigrid’s steadily encroaching panic as her realizations unfold in real time with the audience’s make for a few agonizingly tense moments of smashed social etiquette as a seemingly innocuous comment lays the groundwork for a truly grim outcome.

Fans of Northern Europe’s recent devastating horror offerings such as Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil and Eskil Vogt’s The Innocents will be pleased to know that Good Boy keeps up a long and proud tradition of bleak Scandi endings, even if it does feel somewhat rushed. Those who dabble in the weirder side of horror may find themselves wishing Good Boy would delve even further into the depths of depravity, with even some of the more brutal scenes feeling both figuratively and literally bloodless. There’s also – almost inevitably for a story built around a singular point of difference - a flatness to the eventual reveal that feels anticlimactic.

But in an ever more sanitized cinematic landscape, Good Boy’s perverse, original premise, committed performances (especially from Nicolai Narvesen Lied, who puts his entire body and soul into Frank’s doggy quirks) and subsequent unravelling into mean-spirited chaos comes as welcome salve for weirdos who like their horror on the bonkers side.

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