Buddy — Review
Source: Roadside Attractions
Casper Kelly’s Buddy isn’t one of those “the less you know, the better” type of movies. It’s more like the less you know going in, the more it feels like a fever dream. This movie is most likely to land with anyone raised on television shows like Barney & Friends. I grew up in the ‘90s, and my mother claims I used to love Barney, but I have absolutely no memory of ever joyfully sitting in front of the TV watching that purple dinosaur prance around. In fact, all I can recall is having Barney sheets on my bed as a small child, and deciding in the middle of the night after seeing those dead, vacant eyes staring at me that I hate Barney and needed to get rid of those sheets immediately. So Buddy, a comedy slasher film about a Barney-inspired unicorn who hosts a children's TV show and whose dark side is gradually revealed, especially appealed to me.
Buddy the Unicorn, an orange unicorn and the host of the children’s television series It’s Buddy!, is voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, who absolutely nails the vocal performance. Between his voice and the show’s trademark song, with lyrics like, “I love Buddy, yes I do, and I love each one of you,” the jabs at Barney & Friends are about as far from subtle as you can get. The film experiments with different aspect ratios, beginning in 4:3 as it mimics the style of a ‘90s television program. We’re introduced to the world as though we’re watching an episode of It’s Buddy!, complete with an intro and end credits. It then loops around in a Groundhog Day-esque way, emphasizing the show’s repetitiveness while also progressively exposing the cracks in this seemingly idyllic world.
Source: Roadside Attractions
This movie is for anyone who’s ever watched Barney & Friends and questioned the logistics of that world. How did those children get there? Where do they sleep? Where are their parents? Does it get exhausting pretending to be so enthusiastic all the time? And, most importantly, what happens if they don’t feel like participating in that episode’s storyline? Things kick into gear when Josh (Luke Speakman) tells Buddy he doesn’t feel like dancing and just wants to read a book, but Buddy refuses to take no for an answer. After Buddy informs the children that Josh loves dancing so much that he left for “Diamond City” to pursue dance, our protagonist, Freddy (Delaney Quinn), and Wade (Caleb Williams) discover Josh’s book in the trash, covered in blood.
Source: Roadside Attractions
Part of what makes Buddy feel so fresh, aside from its absurd blend of horror and humor, is the role the children play in the story. In recent years, it seems like every time a child is the star of a horror film, they’re the one being creepy instead of being scared. So it’s refreshing to have the young protagonist be the final girl instead of the one inducing the scares for a change. In fact, depending on your definition of the trope, Freddy might be the youngest “final girl” since Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989). However, make no mistake: just because Freddy follows certain “final girl” tropes, calling her a final girl isn’t a spoiler. If anything, I was surprised by how often Buddy subverted my expectations.
During a Q&A at the film’s New York premiere at Film at Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies XIV, Casper Kelly and Delaney Quinn discussed Quinn’s love of horror movies and how she always wanted to be a final girl, so this isn’t one of those scenarios where the child actors had no idea what they were working on. Their performances are fantastic. They capture that phony, over-the-top fervor characteristic of children on those types of programs, but they also know exactly when to play it straight and act genuinely terrified. They also display great comedic timing when a line delivery calls for it. Between this and last year's If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Delaney Quinn is undeniably a star on the rise. Her love for horror films certainly shines through in how convincingly she navigates the scares, while still feeling like an actual kid. She’s clever and curious enough to recognize when something isn’t right, but she also makes the kinds of mistakes you’d expect from a child in this situation. She doesn’t suddenly become an expert survivor just because she’s the protagonist, which makes her feel authentic and gives you a reason to become invested in what happens to her.
Source: Roadside Attractions
The film’s shift to its second act can be a bit jarring as we’re introduced to Grace (Cristin Milioti), her husband, Ben (Topher Grace), and their two sons, out in the real world. The film also plays with aspect ratios, lighting, and color grading to create a contrast between reality and the artificial world of It’s Buddy!. It quickly becomes apparent how Grace plays a part in this story, and while her storyline is the one portion of the film I’d describe as predictable, everything else goes off the rails in unexpected ways. The second act feels a little too long, while the third act moves almost too quickly and ends rather abruptly, making the film as a whole feel slightly uneven.
Where Buddy truly excels is in its whimsical, colorful, and elaborately detailed production design. It genuinely feels like a real children’s show, with random objects adorned with eyes and turned into characters, such as the mailbox and the couch. The film’s use of practical effects and puppetry is another highlight, giving the film a handmade charm that makes the bizarre world of It’s Buddy! feel all the more believable and distinct. Buddy’s character design is equally effective because he looks like a convincing children’s TV mascot. There’s something inherently creepy about these kinds of mascots, but the film understands that their creepiness comes from how we perceive them rather than any deliberate attempt to make them frightening. The world around Buddy is designed to look cheerful and bright, and he’s exactly the kind of mascot you could imagine children embracing. That’s what makes it even more unsettling when Buddy’s dark side begins to emerge. His fluffy, relentlessly joyful appearance takes on a much more sinister quality in contrast to his words and actions.
Source: Roadside Attractions
Despite its unique premise, Buddy feels like an amalgamation of several other films beyond its obvious Barney & Friends comparison. It feels like The Wizard of Oz (1939) meets The Shining (1980), with hints of The Truman Show (1998) and Videodrome (1983) woven into the mix. It even aptly includes an homage to The Night of the Hunter (1955). Most of all, though, Buddy feels like a companion to Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (2011). It would also make a perfect double feature with the “USS Callister” episode of Black Mirror, which is especially fitting given that Cristin Milioti stars in both. Much like “USS Callister,” Buddy takes the familiar world of a beloved television program and twists it into a story about the abuse of power. It’s Buddy! might seem like a harmless, happy environment, but there’s something distinctly authoritarian about it. Buddy is essentially a tyrannical leader, and everyone else on the show is expected to appease him and play along with whatever he wants. The children are trapped in a world where they’re expected to smile, participate, and pretend everything is fine, even when they’re clearly afraid. Whether intentional or not, that feels particularly apropos in these dark times.
At its core, though, Buddy is about fear. In the film’s opening stretch, Buddy and Wade sing to Freddy about how “You gotta be scared to be brave. You can't face your fears unless at first you're afraid.” Given the film’s slasher elements, that idea naturally becomes central to the story as these young characters are forced to confront their fears. Beyond that, Buddy doesn’t really have much to say, but it doesn’t need to. It’s meant to be an unhinged, absurd horror comedy, and it absolutely delivers in that regard. It’s wildly entertaining, funny, and unnerving.
Q&A after the New York premiere of Buddy at Film at Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies XIV on August 12, 2026
Regardless of the uneven pacing, Buddy is exactly the kind of bizarre, bonkers horror comedy I’m glad exists. Casper Kelly swings for the fences, and the result is weird, whimsical, and an absolute blast. It may not have much more on its mind than making you laugh, squirm, and wonder what the hell you’re watching, but sometimes that’s more than enough. The committed performances, detailed production design, and practical effects help bring this peculiar world to life. Delightfully deranged, darkly disturbing, and absurdly amusing, Buddy turns childhood nostalgia into a colorful nightmare that goes completely off the rails.
Buddy had its New York premiere at Film at Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies XIV on August 12, 2026. It will get a theatrical release on August 28, 2026.
