# Good Boy (2025 Komasa film)
**Good Boy** (Polish title: *Dobry chłopiec*) is a 2025 psychological thriller directed by Jan Komasa, a Polish-British production in which a nineteen-year-old hooligan is kidnapped and held in the basement of a wealthy family's home, where his captors attempt to remake him into a "good boy" through coercive rehabilitation.[1](https://www.minervapictures.com/film/good-boy/?lang=en) The film premiered at the 50th [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) and reached cinemas under different titles in different markets: as *Heel* in the United States and *The Good Boy* in the United Kingdom, changes made to avoid confusion with [Ben Leonberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-leonberg)'s 2025 dog's-eye horror film of the same name.[2](https://sightlines.media/film/1381027/good-boy-2026)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Jan Komasa; screenplay by Bartek Bartosik and Naqqash Khalid[1](https://www.minervapictures.com/film/good-boy/?lang=en) |
| Production | Poland and the United Kingdom, 2025, 110 minutes; Komasa's second English-language feature[3](https://www.fina.gov.pl/wydarzenia/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/) • [4](https://offcamera.pl/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Katalog-MOC-2026.pdf) |
| Cast | Stephen Graham as Chris, Andrea Riseborough as Kathryn, Anson Boon as Tommy, Kit Rakusen as Jonathan[5](https://www.filmweb.pl/film/Dobry%2Bch%C5%82opiec-2025-10064809) |
| Premiere | 5 September 2025, Centrepiece section, 50th Toronto International Film Festival[2](https://sightlines.media/film/1381027/good-boy-2026) |
| Release titles | *Heel* (US, Magnolia Pictures), *The Good Boy* (UK, Signature Entertainment, 20 March 2026), *Dobry chłopiec* (Poland, Kino Świat, 6 March 2026)[2](https://sightlines.media/film/1381027/good-boy-2026) |
| Awards | Anson Boon won the Vittorio Gassman Best Actor Award at the 2025 Rome Film Festival[6](https://www.sfp.org.pl/magazyn_filmowy%2C170.MF_11_2025_www.pdf) |
| Audience and box office | 7.2/10 on Filmweb from about 15,000 ratings; $1,361,423 worldwide gross[5](https://www.filmweb.pl/film/Dobry%2Bch%C5%82opiec-2025-10064809) |
## Plot
Tommy (Anson Boon) is a nineteen-year-old delinquent who lives a life of drugs, parties, and violence. After a night of excess with his friends he is separated from the group and kidnapped by a mysterious figure. He wakes up with a chain around his neck in the basement of the secluded home of a wealthy family: Chris ([Stephen Graham](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-graham)), his wife Kathryn ([Andrea Riseborough](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrea-riseborough)), and their young son Jonathan (Kit Rakusen). The abduction is part of the family's plan to turn Tommy into a "good boy," and he must choose between appeasing his captors and attempting to escape at any cost.[1](https://www.minervapictures.com/film/good-boy/?lang=en) The Polish distributor's synopsis describes the film as drawing viewers into "a kaleidoscope of ambiguity" and posing difficult questions about the limits of morality without giving unambiguous answers.[3](https://www.fina.gov.pl/wydarzenia/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/)
## Direction and themes
Jan Komasa had previously been nominated for the [Academy Award for Best International Feature Film](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-international-feature-film) for *Corpus Christi*, and his other films include *Suicide Room*, *Warsaw 44*, and *The Hater*.[3](https://www.fina.gov.pl/wydarzenia/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/) *Good Boy* is his second English-language feature, made with an international cast.[4](https://offcamera.pl/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Katalog-MOC-2026.pdf) The film was co-produced by Jerzy Skolimowski and Jeremy Thomas.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/09/good-boy-review-stephen-graham-and-andrea-riseborough-turn-nasty-in-kubrickian-absurdist-nightmare)
Critics have repeatedly reached for comparisons to [Stanley Kubrick](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-kubrick)'s *A Clockwork Orange*: Tom Shone, writing on MUBI, called it "Like A Clockwork Orange reimagined in the age of TikTok," and The Guardian's review headlined it a "Kubrickian absurdist nightmare."[8](https://mubi.com/en/films/good-boy-2025/critics-reviews) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/09/good-boy-review-stephen-graham-and-andrea-riseborough-turn-nasty-in-kubrickian-absurdist-nightmare) Shone observed that the film turns on which character is the bigger sociopath, the hooligan Tommy or the soft-voiced disciplinarian armed with a Taser, and Komasa wisely leaves that question unresolved.[8](https://mubi.com/en/films/good-boy-2025/critics-reviews) Deadline's Damon Wise made a different comparison, writing that "like an early Yorgos Lanthimos, the strangeness of the premise does a lot of heavy lifting, but the performers literally bring character to what might easily have been a one-note movie."[2](https://sightlines.media/film/1381027/good-boy-2026)
Nikki Baughan's Screen Daily review from Toronto described the film as an "entertainingly off-kilter tale of rage, rehabilitation and redemption" grounded by strong performances from Graham, Boon, and Riseborough, while faulting its final act: the storyline of Rina (Monika Frajczyk) ends abruptly, and the closing scenes push an already fantastical premise toward the absurd.[9](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/good-boy-review-stephen-graham-and-andrea-riseborough-anchor-off-kilter-morality-tale/5208642.article)
## Title changes and release
The film was originally titled *Good Boy*, but was renamed to avoid confusion with Ben Leonberg's 2025 dog-led horror film of the same name.[5](https://www.filmweb.pl/film/Dobry%2Bch%C5%82opiec-2025-10064809) The result is a three-title release pattern: *Heel* in the United States through Magnolia Pictures, *The Good Boy* in the United Kingdom through Signature Entertainment on 20 March 2026, and *Dobry chłopiec* in Poland through Kino Świat on 6 March 2026.[2](https://sightlines.media/film/1381027/good-boy-2026) The retitle has complicated searches for the film, since coverage is split across names.[2](https://sightlines.media/film/1381027/good-boy-2026)
The film's festival run began at TIFF 50 and continued in official competition in the "Progressive Cinema" section of the 2025 Rome Film Festival, where it was a winner and where Boon took the Best Actor prize.[1](https://www.minervapictures.com/film/good-boy/?lang=en) • [10](https://www.desmarfilms.com/slate/good-boy) • [6](https://www.sfp.org.pl/magazyn_filmowy%2C170.MF_11_2025_www.pdf) It also screened in the main competition of the 51st Festival of Polish Feature Films in Gdynia, competing for the Golden Lions.[11](https://www.fina.gov.pl/wydarzenia/z-archiwum-fina-cykl-filmowy/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa-wprowadzenie-nt-kopii-obowiazkowej/)
## Reception and classification
On Filmweb the film holds a rating of 7.2 out of 10 from roughly 15,000 users, with critics averaging 6.7, and it placed 31st on the site's ranking of 2025 releases; Filmweb lists a worldwide gross of $1,361,423.[5](https://www.filmweb.pl/film/Dobry%2Bch%C5%82opiec-2025-10064809) Filming took place in Warsaw and Sękocin in Poland and in [Yorkshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/yorkshire), England.[5](https://www.filmweb.pl/film/Dobry%2Bch%C5%82opiec-2025-10064809)
In France, the CNC classified the film as banned for viewers under 12 with a warning, citing a complex film in which a suffering family sequesters a young delinquent and subjects him to abuse and torture in the name of "re-education," with a French theatrical release date of 11 November 2026.[12](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/168661)
## References
1. [Good Boy, Minerva Pictures (film page and synopsis)](https://www.minervapictures.com/film/good-boy/?lang=en)
2. [Good Boy (2026), dir. Jan Komasa — analysis, influences and similar films, Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/1381027/good-boy-2026)
3. [„Dobry chłopiec”, reż. Jan Komasa, FINA (Filmowa Instytucja Narodowa)](https://www.fina.gov.pl/wydarzenia/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa/)
4. [DOBRY CHŁOPIEC, Off Camera / MOC 2026 catalog](https://offcamera.pl/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Katalog-MOC-2026.pdf)
5. [Dobry chłopiec (2025), Filmweb](https://www.filmweb.pl/film/Dobry%2Bch%C5%82opiec-2025-10064809)
6. [POLONICA — ROCZNICA, Magazyn Filmowy nr 171, SFP (Anson Boon award note)](https://www.sfp.org.pl/magazyn_filmowy%2C170.MF_11_2025_www.pdf)
7. [The Good Boy review — Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough turn nasty in Kubrickian absurdist nightmare, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/09/good-boy-review-stephen-graham-and-andrea-riseborough-turn-nasty-in-kubrickian-absurdist-nightmare)
8. [The Good Boy (2025) critic reviews on MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/good-boy-2025/critics-reviews)
9. ['Good Boy' review: Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough anchor off-kilter morality tale, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/good-boy-review-stephen-graham-and-andrea-riseborough-anchor-off-kilter-morality-tale/5208642.article)
10. [GOOD BOY, Desmar Films (sales page, Rome winner)](https://www.desmarfilms.com/slate/good-boy)
11. [„Dobry chłopiec”, reż. Jan Komasa (wprowadzenie nt. kopii obowiązkowej), FINA](https://www.fina.gov.pl/wydarzenia/z-archiwum-fina-cykl-filmowy/dobry-chlopiec-rez-jan-komasa-wprowadzenie-nt-kopii-obowiazkowej/)
12. [Visas et Classification — THE GOOD BOY, CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/168661)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2025–2026 films › Psychological and erotic thrillers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license