The Good Boy ending explained: Why does Tommy go back to the house?

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(**WARNING: Contains spoilers for The Good Boy**)

Stephen Graham received a lot of praise for his role in a popular TV drama last year, where he played a father dealing with harmful attitudes in a younger generation. His upcoming film, The Good Boy, explores similar themes.

However, that’s pretty much where the connections between the new film, released in the US as Heel, and the Netflix series Adolescence stop.

The Good Boy stars Graham and Andrea Riseborough as a married couple who kidnap a troubled 19-year-old named Tommy. They chain him in their basement and subject him to harsh and unsettling attempts to change his behavior.

I was really captivated by this movie – it has a darkly funny vibe that reminded me a bit of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. You see the main character, Tommy, gradually change; he becomes less violent and starts to see his captors differently, and it’s compelling to watch that happen.

Just left the theater after seeing ‘The Good Boy,’ and my mind is still reeling from that ending! If you’re like me and need a little help figuring out what exactly happened, I’m here to break it down for you. Let’s unpack those final moments together.

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The Good Boy ending explained: Why does Tommy go back to the house?

I remember watching Tommy settle in with Chris and Kathryn, and their little boy Jonathan. Honestly, for a long time, it didn’t seem like he was making any effort to change his ways. He just… stayed as he was, even while living with them.

Life is particularly difficult for him right now – he doesn’t even have a proper toilet, just a bucket – so it’s understandable that he’s struggling. He refuses to eat and isn’t cooperating with Chris’s attempts to help, which involve making him watch videos of his past mistakes online.

As time goes on, Tommy starts to understand that if he follows the rules, he’ll be rewarded – with things like access to a real toilet or even being allowed to watch movies with the family (they choose the classic film Kes). Little by little, he changes his behavior, realizing that cooperating with his captor brings benefits.

After a while, he’s given free rein of most of the house, but he can’t escape. Chris has rigged up a ceiling-mounted chain system to keep him secured.

Tommy seems to be changing for the better – he’s connecting with Jonathan and enjoying the books Kathryn gave him. However, he still really wants to escape and tries to get the housekeeper, Rina, to help him with his plans.

Rina, dealing with her own problems, eventually shares a four-digit code with him, giving Tommy the chance to escape. One night, he decides it’s time to try.

After a short confrontation with Chris and Kathryn involving a gun, they decided it was best to let him leave. Chris even reminded Kathryn of a previous negative experience, saying, “Do you remember what happened last time?”

After collapsing by the side of the road, Tommy was found and taken to the hospital. The story resumes later, with police questioning him about the incident while his mother is present.

Initially, Tommy truthfully described the kidnapping to authorities. However, he’s now claiming he was heavily medicated in the hospital and not thinking clearly at the time, saying, “I was so drugged up on the medication they gave me.”

He discovers that his mother didn’t report him missing – it was actually his ex-girlfriend, Gabbie (Savannah Steyn).

This seems to make him reflect on his past. The movie ends with him observing Gabbie, who is now caught in the same self-destructive pattern of partying that he once experienced.

So, what does he do next? He asks her to trust him, then shockingly, he uses chloroform on her – the same method Chris and Kathryn once used on him. He drives her to the house where he was previously held, seemingly intending for her to undergo the same intense and harsh ‘rehabilitation’ he experienced.

Watching him, I realized his experience in that house truly changed him. It was unsettling to see him complete the cycle, setting someone else up to endure the same awful things he went through. The film ending with that image felt incredibly chilling. It almost suggested that, despite how terrible his actions were, Chris ultimately succeeded in his goal – stopping the cycle by perpetuating it, in a way. It left me deeply disturbed, but also with a strange sense of completion.

Who is Charlie in The Good Boy and what were Chris and Kathryn’s motivations?

The movie frequently mentions Charlie, a character who died before the story begins. His death has a strong emotional impact on Chris, Kathryn, and Jonathan throughout the film.

The show doesn’t fully reveal Charlie’s identity, but he was likely either Jonathan’s brother or a previous kidnapping victim who experienced the same ordeal as Tommy.

Graham shared in an interview with Screen Daily that the parents in the story had a son struggling with addiction. They attempted to help him by keeping him close, but he eventually ran away, and they haven’t heard from him since.

From the start, I felt we shouldn’t reveal that to the audience. Letting them interpret it themselves is more effective, so it remains open to different understandings.

Chris kidnapped Tommy, Graham explained, hoping it would help Kathryn deal with the overwhelming grief from losing their son, as she was becoming increasingly withdrawn and unresponsive.

He confessed he was kidnapping a young boy, roughly the same age his own son had been, hoping to bring some happiness back to his wife. He admitted he did it all to try and please her.

Honestly, I think the movie is brilliant because it doesn’t give you all the answers. It’s totally open to interpretation – like, who exactly is Charlie, and what’s really driving Chris? My take on it might be different than yours, and that’s the whole point! There isn’t one single, easy explanation, and I love that.

The Good Boy is now showing in UK cinemas.

Authors

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona writes about film for TopMob, covering new releases in theaters and on streaming platforms. He’s been with the site since October 2019, and during that time has interviewed many famous actors and reviewed a wide variety of films.

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2026-03-20 13:38