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Good Boy | 2025 | PG-13 | – 1.6.5
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Why is “Good Boy” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “terror, bloody images and strong language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several scenes depicting a man suffering from an illness and becoming worse over time coughing blood and becoming weak, a dog suffering from nightmares depicting slime-covered beings, discussions of a man dying in a house that is cursed, several arguments and at least 5 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
A loyal dog (Indy) accompanies his human (Shane Jensen) everywhere he goes, and when they move to a remote rural cabin, the dog senses supernatural forces lurking in the shadows, threatening them. Also with Arielle Friedman and Larry Fessenden. Directed by Ben Leonberg. [Running Time: 1:12]
Good Boy SEX/NUDITY 1
– A dog takes a piece of food from a man’s lips and the man makes a kissing sound.
► A shirtless man sits on a bed and we see his bare shoulders, abdomen, chest and side. A man wears boxers when he wakes up and we see his bare legs to the mid-thighs.
Good Boy VIOLENCE/GORE 6
– A dog awakens when a cell phone rings and lights dim; we hear creaking in the room, the TV screen shows static, the dog sniffs as if something else is in the room and a man seated in the dark nearby gags and coughs as blood drips from his mouth and nose (we see the man in the hospital later with an IV in his hand).
► A man is engulfed in a slimy substance and decays to skeletal form. A slime-covered form grabs a dog, the dog yelps and jumps into a doghouse; a slime-covered hand reaches out of the ground, pulls on the chain holding the dog, and the dog charges the doghouse, tipping it over and breaking the chain. A dog hears barking coming from a storm cellar and when the doors are open, he sees a dog’s skeletal remains. A man hears noises and footsteps moving through a dark room and he tries to close the door; he is grabbed and pulled into the basement as he screams and his dog tries to find him; the dog crashes through a window and into the basement and drags the man out and they see slimy-covered hands reaching out toward them. A dog panics when a man leaves the room and collapses and the door closes; the dog climbs out a second-story window, falls to the ground below and runs through woods to another house where he hears noises in the dark; the dog is caught in a snare and he growls when someone stands over him. A dog sniffs and searches through a garage and sees a chair where he sees a man sitting and coughing deeply, drooling blood; the dog inadvertently urinates from fear (we see the stream) as a figure covered with shiny goo reaches toward him. A slime-covered hand reaches toward a dog and the dog bites the hand causing a man to recoil and yell.
► A man walks into the woods alone in the rain and leaves his dog chained to a doghouse outside. A dog watches a man pound his head against a door several times (we see blood on the door). A man leaves his dog at home alone and the dog barks and whines desperately; we see the dog sitting at the window until dark waiting for the man to return and the dog hears noises and the curtains flutter; another dog is seen in the room and the first dog follows it up the stairs as the lights flicker and the dog finds a bandana under a piece of furniture; he struggles to reach it and he hears noises coming from behind him as we see a shadow of a hand reaching around the door frame followed by a bloody hand and a man gasping and wheezing lumbers into the room and collapses on the bed. A dog tries to lie close to a man that is very sick and the man becomes upset and tells the dog to leave. A dog sees a person lying at the bottom of basement stairs and we hear moaning; something then charges up the stairs toward the dog. A dog is dragged under a bed by a hand and we see a man holding him close and comforting him as the dog growls.
► A dog sees figures that seem to be covered in goo reaching toward him in several scenes. A dog appears to be having a nightmare and sees another dog in a basement. A man searches for his dog and goes to the basement where the dog, covered with dirt, is seated behind the door; the man gives the dog a bath (he tells the dog, “You smell like death”) and we see dark liquid in the bathwater as the man coughs violently and spits blood on the dog and the bathtub. A dog sees slimy goo-covered figures moving in the shadows and reaching into the room in several scenes. A dog sees something moving behind a curtain and a man tries to calm him. A dog sniffs and sees glowing eyes in the brush; we then see a fox walk out of the brush and across the yard.
► A man tells his dog that he can’t save him and that he needs to stay (we fear that the dog might not be found). A man dressed in camouflage clothing and carrying a crossbow approaches a dog in the woods and tells another man that he has fox traps and snares set all around the area. We see videos of a man coughing deeply, yelling at his dog to be quiet and talking about his will; the man says that he is leaving all of his taxidermies to his daughter, who is vegan. A woman finds a man unresponsive and calls for an ambulance. We see scratch marks on the inside of a basement door. A man cries and picks up his dog cradling him.
► A dog follows noises through a dark house and sniffs while looking toward a dark corner; a man with a lantern enters the room and we see that there is nothing in the corner. A dog hears sounds coming from the back of a car or outside the car and it sounds like low growling (we do not see anything in the shadows). A dog resists coming out of a car at a dark cabin and seems afraid (he whimpers). A dog hears noises coming from inside a storm cellar and whimpers. The power goes out in a remote cabin during a thunder and lightning storm and we hear buzzing when a man tries to reset the power in the basement. A man and a dog walk through a small cemetery in the woods and the dog seems scared; he crawls into a fallen tree and sees a skeleton of an animal and we see glowing eyes in the dark. A movie on TV shows someone looking under his bed and being pulled under by something.
► A man yells at a doctor when he is told that his illness has progressed too far to participate in a medical treatment. A woman argues with a man about whether his doctor would allow him to live in a remote cabin alone. A man and a woman argue over the phone in several scenes. A woman refers to a house as a “cursed family house.” A woman says that a man would always “put on a happy face even though he was rotting inside.” A woman talks about dogs being able to sense illness. We hear sirens blaring in the background of a scene. A man yells at a woman for making him feel like a patient.
► A man urinates against a tree and we hear the stream. A man says that something smells awful in a basement. A man says that he can’t have a bowel movement without a witness (referring to his dog always being by his side). We see several taxidermied animals around a house.
Good Boy LANGUAGE 5
– About 5 F-words, 2 scatological terms, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (scaredy pants, creepy), exclamations (are you out of your mind, shut-up), 3 religious profanities (GD), 2 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus Christ, oh God). | profanity glossary |
Good Boy SUBSTANCE USE
– A man burns something and walks through rooms in a house arranging plants in a specific way (presumably herbal treatments).
Good Boy DISCUSSION TOPICS
– The partnership of man and dog, a dog’s ability to detect health problems.
Good Boy MESSAGE
– Dogs are amazing.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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