‘The Good Boy’ takes us on a dark and twisted journey through the eyes of Tommy, a London party boy and all-round train wreck whose reckless lifestyle is continually reinforced by the attention of his online followers and livestream audience. On an uncontrollable crazy night out of drugtaking, sex and fighting, Tommy is kidnapped by the eerie and sinister Chris.
What happens next takes us on the journey of Chris’s twisted retreat of horrors out in the beautiful English countryside, where he attempts to rehabilitate Tommy and steer him away from his lost and empty existence. We also meet Chris’s deathly pale, gaunt wife, Catherine, and their eerily perfect, Stepford-like son, Jonathon.
Once Tommy gets past the shock of being kidnapped and chained up around the clock, the film settles into an almost sitcom-esque living arrangement, as he gradually begins to embrace the idea of becoming a “Good Boy”. Through rewards
and punishments which involve being tasered and beaten with a baton, Tommy is eventually allowed to move throughout the house. Albeit while tethered to a chain running along a ceiling-mounted rail.
The evolving family dynamic is at times uncomfortable, creepy and deeply unnerving, yet there are also moments of dark comedy that leave you questioning whether you laughed because they were laugh out loud funny or simply because the situation is uncomfortable. Either way there are plenty of dark comedy moments.
The performances keep the movie firmly grounded despite the bizarre setup, especially as Tommy’s bravado starts to crack.
Stephen Graham, best known recently for Netflix’s Adolescence, gives a gripping and unsettling performance as Chris. You can see Chris struggling to keep himself from crumbling as he tries to support his wife through her deepening depression and protect his son from growing increasingly isolated and withdrawn.
I love a good horror movie, and while this never quite becomes one, it keeps you wondering whether it might take that turn. Instead, it remains firmly rooted as a darkly funny psychological thriller which lingers in your head long after the credits roll.