The Good Boy: Stephen Graham’s Unsettling New Thriller Is One to Watch
Stephen Graham is trading the emotional intensity of Adolescence for something altogether more disturbing in The Good Boy, a psychological thriller that puts the acclaimed actor on the other side of the law.
Released in cinemas earlier this year, Jan Komasa’s The Good Boy stars Graham as Chris, a seemingly well-intentioned family man who takes a troubled 19-year-old off the streets and locks him in his basement. His plan? To reform him.
The teenager, Tommy, is played by Anson Boon, known for MobLand. What begins as an apparent attempt to help a young man change his destructive ways quickly becomes an unsettling battle of control, manipulation and survival.
And yes, Tommy is literally chained to the wall.
With The Good Boy now available to watch at home, here’s what to know about the film, from its disturbing premise and cast to where you can stream it.
What is The Good Boy about?
The story centres on Tommy, a 19-year-old whose life revolves around drugs, parties and violence. After a chaotic night, he is abducted from the streets and wakes up in the basement of Chris and his family’s suburban home.
There’s a chain around his neck, and Chris is the man responsible.
Chris and his wife Kathryn, played by Andrea Riseborough, insist that they have a purpose behind what they’ve done. They believe Tommy needs to be rehabilitated and set out to change his behaviour through a series of psychological games and increasingly disturbing methods.
Tommy, understandably, has little interest in cooperating.
The film’s official synopsis describes him as someone accustomed to violence who becomes horrified when he discovers that he has been imprisoned in the isolated suburban home of Chris, Kathryn and their young son Jonathan, played by Kit Rakusen.
The family then attempts to force Tommy to confront his behaviour, leaving him with two choices: submit to their relentless mind games or find a way out.
That uncomfortable setup sits at the heart of The Good Boy. Chris believes he is helping Tommy, but the increasingly blurred line between rehabilitation and abuse leaves the audience questioning exactly who is in control.
Stephen Graham takes on a very different role
For Graham, The Good Boy arrives after the huge success of Adolescence, the Netflix drama that earned him three Emmys last year.
His role here could hardly be more different.
As Chris, Graham plays a man who presents himself as controlled and purposeful while hiding a deeply unsettling side. The performance gives the film much of its tension, particularly as Chris’s supposedly noble intentions begin to look increasingly sinister.
Andrea Riseborough stars opposite him as Kathryn, Chris’s wife, while Anson Boon takes on the challenging role of Tommy.
The film also features Kit Rakusen as the couple’s young son Jonathan.
Who directed The Good Boy?
The Good Boy was directed by Oscar-nominated Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, whose previous work includes Corpus Christi.
The project began as a Polish-language screenplay set in Warsaw before being adapted into English and relocated to Yorkshire.
Komasa has said he was immediately attracted to the unusual story and its idea of a young person undergoing a kind of detoxification from what he described as trash culture.
He also highlighted the story’s dark humour and its morally ambiguous outlook, elements that helped draw him to the project.
The result is a psychological thriller that deliberately leaves plenty of room for uncomfortable questions about morality, behaviour and whether someone can truly be changed by force.
The cast of The Good Boy
The film features:
- Stephen Graham (Boiling Point) as Chris
- Andrea Riseborough (Lee) as Kathryn
- Anson Boon (MobLand) as Tommy
- Kit Rakusen (The Phoenician Scheme)
- Savannah Steyn (House of the Dragon)
- Austin Haynes (Unforgivable)
- Monika Frajczyk
Graham and Riseborough anchor the family at the centre of the story, while Boon carries the film’s central transformation as Tommy finds himself trapped in circumstances he never expected.
Is there a trailer for The Good Boy?
Yes. The official trailer gives a glimpse of Tommy’s chaotic life before revealing the far more disturbing situation he wakes up in.
The preview also introduces Chris and Kathryn and offers a taste of the psychological battle that unfolds inside their home.
How can I watch The Good Boy?
The Good Boy is available to watch at home following its cinema release.
It can be watched through Prime Video, with the film also available on Apple TV. The film’s official viewing information lists additional digital options, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple, YouTube Movies, Rakuten TV, EE TV and BFI Player.
The film had its UK cinema release on 20 March 2026.
What other Stephen Graham dramas can you watch?
If The Good Boy leaves you wanting more from Stephen Graham, there are several other performances worth seeking out.
First up is Netflix’s Adolescence, the drama that earned Graham three Emmys last year and became one of his most talked-about recent roles.
There’s also Disney+’s A Thousand Blows, which offers another chance to see the actor in a very different setting.
For something more emotionally devastating, try ** Help **, available on Channel 4. The one-off drama is set in a fictional Liverpool care home and stars Jodie Comer as a carer who develops a bond with a patient played by Graham, who is living with early-onset dementia.
When COVID-19 reaches the care home, the pair are forced to confront increasingly horrific circumstances.
For Graham fans looking for something darker, The Good Boy makes for a particularly unsettling follow-up. Its premise may sound straightforward, but the film uses that setup to create a tense psychological drama where the distinction between helping someone and controlling them becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.