Good Boy

Nineteen-year-old Tommy (Anson Boon) lives a life of unchecked chaos in Northern England. Fuelled by alcohol, drugs, and violent thrills, he records his antisocial rampages and uploads them to social media for instant notoriety. His reckless spiral abruptly stops when, after stumbling out of a nightclub on a heavy bender, he is abducted off the street by a mysterious stranger.

Tommy wakes up in the damp cellar of an isolated Yorkshire estate, bound by an iron chain fastened to an overhead track on the ceiling. His captors are Chris (Stephen Graham), a soft-spoken, virtue-obsessed family man, and Kathryn (Andrea Riseborough), his eerie, withdrawn wife. Alongside their impeccably mannered 10-year-old son Jonathan (Kit Rakusen), the couple subjects Tommy to a regimented routine of behavioral modification, operant conditioning, and strict discipline designed to break his spirit and force him to become a "good boy".

As housekeeper Rina (Monika Frajczyk)—trapped in her own ordeal due to visa insecurities—becomes an unwilling bystander, Tommy must navigate relentless mind games. He quickly learns that disobedience brings swift corporal punishment, while submission earns small privileges, forcing him to choose between fighting his captors or adapting to survive.

Director Jan Komasa uses the film to interrogate modern anxieties about lost, disaffected youth, social media decay, and the dark boundaries of authoritarian rehabilitation. Rather than presenting a simple story of rescue or revenge, Good Boy explores whether true personal transformation can emerge from coercive control, or whether forced civility merely imposes a polite, superficial mask over deep-seated trauma. The film asks whether middle-class domesticity and vigilante moralism are fundamentally any less violent than the street delinquency they seek to eradicate.

The film can be interpreted through several distinct lenses:

Released in early 2026, Good Boy taps into contemporary UK media panics surrounding youth crime, viral social media hooliganism, and debates over social rehabilitation versus punitive justice.

The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2025) and screened at the BFI London Film Festival before its theatrical distribution. Critics highlighted its dark satirical edge and central performances. Its depiction of domestic vigilante reform sparked discussions about youth mental health, generational disconnects, and coercive control.

Praised: Critics and viewers lauded Stephen Graham and Anson Boon for their intense screen dynamic. The film’s dark humor, tight pacing, and claustrophobic atmosphere were widely celebrated.

Criticisms: Some viewers found the shift from wild social media satire to insular hostage drama jarring. Others felt the character motivations of Chris and Kathryn remained overly cryptic.

Controversial Elements: The scenes of chain captivity, corporal punishment, and the bleak twist ending split audience reactions.

Overall Verdict: A gripping, highly provocative psychological thriller that solidified Jan Komasa’s reputation for compelling character studies.