Buddy Review: Creative Twist on Typical Horror Trope

Director Casper Kelly (V/H/S/Halloween) takes another step up for his next feature film with Buddy, a story about a children's television show that is much worse than it seems.

Synopsis:

"Remember BUDDY—the bright orange unicorn and star of that classic childrens’ television show who brought joy and life lessons into your living room? Inside the colorful world of “It’s Buddy!”, a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world."

Cast:

Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan Michael-Key, Michael Shannon, Patton Oswalt

Release Date:

August 28th

Family Mystery and Thriller

Credit: Roadside Attractions and Saban Films

The part that most impressed me about Buddy was there being a genuinely fascinating mystery. Most of the films within this trope will fall into the same twists and turns, but seeing things delve into chaos here was actually very creative. We start on what is a realistic depiction of a children's television program, slowly seeing little things feel off before everything eventually goes to absolute insanity. They play within this sandbox in a super interesting way, including resets without a memory wipe and side characters entering/exiting. At first I thought that too much time in this pretend world would get repetitive after a while, but the filmmakers keep things interesting with many different layers to the madness. Even after the detour in the middle, so many new wrinkles are added into this television world and the expansion doesn't make anything feel bogged down.

This leads into what becomes a really family-focused story. Two of our main characters here are a part of a family that's been torn apart, and seeing that journey slowly play out was really fascinating. The screenplay becomes really smart in this area, referencing little things that threaten to break down this world that Buddy himself has created. What's even more impressive is the way the film can flip from comedy to seriousness on an absolute dime. I found myself laughing a lot at some of the ridiculousness of the children's program, and the screenplay deserves credit for being very funny, but they are able to flip the situation to something serious almost immediately. It doesn't feel like we struggled to find a tone at all here and I really liked when they decided to focus on comedy vs. seriousness.

Both Experienced and Younger Cast Kills It

Credit: Roadside Attractions and Saban Films

The draw from the general audience for this film may be the more experienced names headlining the film, but the ones that steal the show are actually the younger cast. It felt wrong not to start with them, as there's a main trio (pictured above) that very clearly have the most screentime in the whole film. Delaney Quinn is really our quasi-main character, being the first of the cast of the show to figure out that something feels off. This performance is standout first because of her curiosity - the reactions from her character are really the main reason we start to feel that things are off inside the environment. Then there's also a big emotional and fearful anger, something that must have been a really tough challenge for someone more inexperienced - even still, she crushed it. The other two are Tristan Borders and Madison Skyy Polan, who aren't given as much to work with, but still work to really emphasize the sadness of the situation. There's also a big realization factor for all three of them when they break out of the television program, and Borders specifically does a really great job there.

We obviously still can point out the main cast, as there's still a lot of fun and quality performances there. I've become a huge fan of Cristin Milioti ever since Palm Springs and this film continued that fandom for me. She's really good at keeping her composure even with some of the absurdity of the first few scenes for her character. Then when we do see things go a bit more south with her, she does a great job through that emotional journey. She shares a lot of scenes together with Quinn and they really become the emotional backbone of the project. I never thought I'd be able to care for a goofy Backpack that talks, but Patton Oswalt did that for me here. Keegan Michael-Key is the voice of Buddy, and I really loved seeing him in such a bizarre role. It's all voice work, but it's good work at that. Also have to give a shoutout to voice acting legend Eric Bauza who is doing multiple roles in this one.

Horror Elements Are More Of A Miss

Credit: Roadside Attractions and Saban Films

Looking back at this, I think it's really going to divide a lot of horror fans. Now, if you love the kind of horror where there's extra gore and creepy moments, this one may hit for you a little more than it did for me. But if you are like me and mostly appreciate the grounded mystery style, this problem with probably extend to you as well. Buddy gets genuinely gross with its violence at points, which I just didn't feel was necessary. The story is already dark in its own right, and to me those extra bloody scenes just took me out of it. Sure, there's some cool visuals like the Buddy design in the photo above, but for the most part I wish they would have held back a little.

This also leads into an issue of some overly sexual sequences. I guess that's again meant to be some sort of a style, but it really did not work for me. There's two scenes in particular - one with Milioti's character and one with a puppet character that just felt gross to me. It's another example of taking me out of the project and it happened way too much on the back half. I get that there could be a certain side to this that delved into that, and they have the luxury of a R rating, but I just think holding back a little could have elevated this past a fun horror.

Non-Linear Storytelling Holds It Back

Credit: Roadside Attractions and Saban Films

This film takes a very interesting approach in terms of its timeline and unfortunately it didn't work for me. I don't hate the idea of opening with an extended look at the television program itself, before entering the real world, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't points where I just wanted to get a look at things outside of Buddy's cartoon. Then once we do reach real life, with Milioti and Topher Grace, it ends up feeling sort of underbaked in comparison to anything else. There's not a lot of mystery involved on that end because we already can kind of guess exactly where things are going. This led to some predictability for the majority of the film, at least the middle, even if there were some things they explored at the end that I wasn't totally expecting. I think if they had instead gone back and forth between the two time periods more regularly, that could have made things feel a lot more smooth.

The story probably also could've used a few more flashbacks, as that main relationship that drives the film could feel a little rushed in points. I'm not sure this film needed a longer runtime, I just think they could have shortened some areas and extended others. If they cut a bit of the opening and the extra creepy scenes in favor of a more natural timeline, that probably could have again elevated this past what it was.

Final Thoughts

For horror and non-horror fans alike, Buddy will be an incredibly fun 90 minutes. It feels very creative in so many areas and gives a ton of great performances. However, there will be issues raised from audiences, it really just depends how much those problems affect your final review. Thanks to the people at Roadside and Saban for letting me cover this film early! Go check it out in the theater on August 28th!

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Buddy is ranked 27th out of the 62 new releases that I've seen this year.

Editor's Note: I've only included the top 20 from my 2026 new releases list, for editing purposes.

2026 Ranked:

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