Sigrid, a part-time cashier and psychology student, wants some romance in her life and feels empowered to arrange a meet-up on the Tinder dating app with Christian. They meet for drinks at a café and Christian turns out to be handsome, charming in his own shy way, a perfect gentleman and, as we learn later, independently wealthy. The date goes well and the couple go back to Christian’s home and spend the night together but, in the morning, Sigrid realizes they are not alone. She is greeted by his dog Frank, who is actually a man in a dog costume. But this is not a prank or performance art. This is the real world inside Christian’s domain. At this point any sensible person would flee the premises, right? And Sigrid does at first. Of course, the viewer already knows from the opening frames of Good Boy (2022), written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Viljar Boe, that Christian is eccentric. Who else would fix a gourmet meal of steak, roasted potatoes and asparagus for their pretend dog and serve it in a doggie. bowl? And if Christian seems odd, what does that say about the guy in the dog suit?
Good Boy is the sort of film that boldly announces its one joke premise at the get-go but can it sustain it? What seems like an outrageous concept, however, quickly moves from a deadpan form of black comedy into a psychological drama and finally something darker, which continues to thwart viewer expectations about where it is going. If the finale seems less audacious and slightly preordained compared to all of the strange twists that occur along the way, the final shot adds a note of ambiguity that leaves a giant question mark hanging over the entire affair.
It is hard to talk about a movie like Good Boy without spoiling some of the surprises along the way so I recommend that anyone interested in seeing the film bow out now. It also doesn’t help that the marketing campaign behind Good Boy has promoted it as a thriller via the posters and it has played at various horror film festivals prior to its theatrical release (which may have disappointed hardcore horror fans). It is true there are horrific touches and, at one point, the film threatens to move into torture porn in the style of Saw and its many sequels but it always refuses to settle into any specific genre.
In some regions, the movie was titled Me, You and Frank, which suggests a romantic triangle comedy or drama. And certainly the relationship between Sigrid, Christian and Frank is the crux of the film but Good Boy can be interpreted in different ways. It works as a creepy bonkers comedy or as a cautionary tale about dating apps or even as a metaphor about human relationships in which people fit into two categories – you are either dominant or subservient depending on your true nature.
The beauty of Good Boy is that director Boe takes such a low-key, matter of fact approach to his story. Sigrid (Katrine Lovise Opstad Fredriksen) becomes our avatar in this odd journey as she is at first disturbed and then confused by the Christian-Frank relationship. After the first date she is on the verge of ending further contact with Christian (Gard Lokke) when her roommate Aurora (Amalie Willoch Njaastad) reprimands her, saying, “What’s wrong with you? He’s a millionaire and handsome! Just because he has a friend with an unusual hobby?” Sigrid reconsiders and goes on another date with Christian, where she tries to decipher the bond between the two men and Christian offers an explanation that satisfies her up to a point.
Boe never reverts to flashbacks to show how Christian and Frank became constant companions and we have to accept Christian’s version of the truth. He reveals that he and Frank were childhood friends and loners with no real family (Christian’s parents died when he was young, leaving him the sole heir). What isn’t explained is why Frank agreed to be his dog. But Sigrid observes that Christian treats his pet well and is reassured that Frank is happy in this arrangement. “Simply put, he’s a dog,” Christian tells her. “He doesn’t act like a dog. He is a dog!” Of course, we never get to hear Frank’s opinion on the subject but something occurs around the forty-five minute mark that abruptly changes the trajectory of Good Boy.
Up until that point, the viewer may wonder if Christian and Frank are playing an elaborate joke on Sigrid. There is even the suspicion that the two men may be orchestrating some weird, three-way sexual liaison, especially after Sigrid inquires if Frank has sex. “He doesn’t have sex unless he’s doing it behind my back,” Christian replies and then laughingly asks her if she’s volunteering to be Frank’s partner. But any prospect of a kinky sex hook-up quickly dissipates once the trio arrive at Christian’s isolated vacation home in the woods and Sigrid is persuaded to give up her phone for the weekend (Christian says he is trying to curb her social media addiction).
Both Gard Lokke and Katrine Lovise Opstad Fredriksen are perfectly cast in the main roles of Christian and Sigrid and make an attractive and appealing couple in the first stage of a budding romance. With his male model looks, Lokke seems like he could have been created in a laboratory by scientists using the most attractive physical characteristics of Rob Lowe and Alexander Skarsgard in their mid-20s. But this seductive façade becomes truly chilling when he emerges as a sociopathic narcissist.
Fredriksen, on the other hand, is likeable, down to earth and completely believable as an adventurous young woman who would go off on a weekend trip with Christian and Frank despite her reservations about them. When push comes to shove, she displays true courage and a fighting spirit but unfortunately lacks the cunning of her adversary.
One of the best aspects of Good Boy is Frank’s costume design, which is not breed specific, but makes him look adorable in some scenes and unsettling in others. The fact that you rarely see the man inside the suit helps sustain the illusion that Frank is some kind of dog until he finally breaks his silence in a moment of panic with Sigrid. Interestingly enough, the director confessed that many of the scenes featuring Frank were played by the costume designer/film producer Marie Waade Gronning. But in the few scenes where you get a glimpse of Frank in and out of the suit (he also has some minimal dialogue), he is played by a very distraught looking Nicolai Narvesen Lied.
Boe has stated in interviews that Good Boy was loosely inspired by aspects of Beauty and the Beast, 40 Shades of Grey and even Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999). I also see parallels to John Fowles’s The Collector and even, ironically enough, Frank (2014), Lenny Abrahamson’s quirky musical comedy about a mysterious singer (Michael Fassbender) who never removes his oversized papier-mache head (he was based on the real life singer/comedian Chris Sievey, whose masked alter ego on stage was known as Frank Sidebottom). Of course, Frank in Good Boy doesn’t get to express himself on stage but both characters remain curious enigmas to the end.
To date, Viljar Boe has written and directed four feature films and, on the basis of Good Boy, I am curious to see his other work, all of which seems to focus on darker aspects of human behavior. Til Freddy (2020), his first feature, is about a man who receives some disturbing news about the camping trip he is going to take with close friends. Theodor (2022) focuses on a man whose life is turned upside down by a new roommate and Above the Knee (2024), Boe’s most recent work, is the story of Amir and his compulsion to amputate part of his leg because he thinks it is rotting (Amir suffers from BIID, a disorder in which the person believes part of their body doesn’t belong to them).
Currently Good Boy is streaming on Showtime, Prime and other digital platforms but no DVD or Blu-ray editions are available at this time. That will probably change as word-of-mouth about his fascinating oddity creates a cult around it.
Other links of interest:
Cinema Sojourns 