SUNDANCE: ‘Buddy’ Loses Steam Quickly

Buddy (2026) has a golden concept for a horror film. When the characters in a children’s television show realize that the show’s mascot, the anthropomorphic fur-suited citrus-colored unicorn Buddy, is their captor who will respond with homicidal impulse if they disobey them, they plot their escape.

Playing on an analog horror aesthetic based on the uncanny nature of TV for kids and written/directed by Adult Swim virtuoso Casper Kelly (the viral short film Too Many Cooks, Adult Swim Yule Log), the film is rife with potential to be a new cult classic. Tragically, Buddy (2026) squanders its potential due to inconsistencies in its aesthetic, characterization, and a misjudged B-plot. 

Casper Kelly’s film starts off extremely strong, with a novel structure. The first act of Buddy (2026) fully commits to the bit of emulating early childhood shows in the vein of Barney & Friends or Yo Gabba Gabba!. Each “episode” features a group of children facing a problem, calling on their friend Buddy to fix it, and then singing a song as the credits roll. Rinse and repeat. The twist here, of course, is that with each passing “episode,” Buddy grows more unhinged until the murders begin.

What starts as a golden concept quickly unravels in Buddy (2026)

Keegan-Michael Key voices the titular character, who’s played in the suit by Sergey Zhuravsky, and both do a strong job of creating a character who’s at once believable as a lovable mascot and an impulsive, angry killer. Delaney Quinn as Freddie leads a strong cast of children in Buddy’s world, which is characterized by a noteworthy attention to detail, especially with Pee-Wee’s Playhouse-style talking objects, notably Patton Oswalt (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) as Freddie’s backpack, Strappy.

The conceit of having a wholesome program slowly unravel under its unwell main character is unfortunately abandoned as soon as the children find a way into the “outskirts” of the show. Bafflingly, Casper Kelly and co-writer Jamie King then pivot to a B-plot where a mother (Cristin Milioti) starts to feel that something, or someone, has been removed from her memory.

Without mincing words, this storyline is a complete whiff, one that drags down the entire film and tries to instill an emotional core that never rings true. Throw in a misjudged turn from Topher Grace (Flight Risk) as well as flat cinematography via director of photography Zach Kuperstein, and you can see Buddy (2026) start to deflate in real time. 

What risks the film takes ultimately miss the mark, while moments are wasted to push things even further.

Worse yet, when we return to the storyline of the children attempting to escape, it doesn’t have much to offer either, save for a fun Clint Howard cameo and a surprising voice-acting turn from Michael Shannon (Knives Out). Whenever we rocket towards our conclusion, more widespread issues with the film surface. Despite his strong debut, the character of Buddy starts to read as too vague to be truly scary.

In the early stretch, there are strong implications that Buddy is a psychopath whose calm demeanor can turn on a dime when he doesn’t get his way. As the third act reveals, it’s far less interesting. Furthermore, Buddy (2026) is ostensibly set out to create a “sick and twisted” remix of the shows so many of us grew up on, but it’s tangibly afraid to be mean.

The kills aren’t nearly gory enough, the main villain is made to be palatable in ways he shouldn’t be, and, crucially, the audience is never made to feel genuinely unsafe or uncomfortable. Truly, the final insult is a climax that tries in vain to create a heartfelt moment.

There is a great version of Buddy (2026) that either goes much further or is simply cut down into a short film. In its current form, it’s a disappointment that doesn’t know how to sustain or further develop its central concept. Through its central concept, Buddy (2026) could very well find a devoted audience, but it’s hard to meet the film on its level when the potential of what it could’ve been towers above what we actually got.

Buddy (2026) world premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and is currently awaiting acquisition.