Fall 2026—Tuesday, November 3, 7:30 p.m.
Heel
Good Boy / Dobry chłopiec
Poland, United Kingdom, 2025, 111 minutes
Directed by: Jan Komasa
Written by: Bartek Bartosik and Naqqash Khalid
Starring: Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Anson Boon, Monika Frajczyk, and Kit Rakusen
Produced by: Jerzy Skolimowski, Ewa Piaskowska, and Jeremy Thomas
Please note: in Poland and at festivals the film is called Good Boy (Dobry chłopiec). In the United States it is released by Magnolia Pictures as Heel, the title you will see on the Dryden Theatre website.
Description
Nineteen-year-old Tommy lives a reckless life of partying, drugs, and violence. One night he is abducted by a stranger named Chris and wakes up chained in the basement of an isolated house. Chris and his mysterious wife, Kathryn, have decided to turn him into a “good boy” through a forced and highly unconventional rehabilitation. Made to read books and learn proper manners, Tommy is drawn into the family’s strange life, while thinking of only one thing: how to escape.
This black comedy-thriller is a subversive tale of freedom and control from Jan Komasa, director of the Oscar-nominated Corpus Christi and one of the boldest Polish filmmakers of his generation, who has twice been a guest of the Rochester Polish Film Festival. The film is produced by the legendary Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. It premiered at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025.
Awards at the 51st Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, 2026: Best Screenplay (Bartek Bartosik and Naqqash Khalid), Best Editing (Agnieszka Glińska), Best Actor (Anson Boon), Audience Award, and Best Casting (Nina Gold, Martin Ware, and Paulina Krajnik).