Buddy
Buddy
Starring Keegan-Michael Key, Delaney Quinn, Cristin Milioti, Tristan Broders
Directed by Casper Kelly
The 1999 kid's show It's Buddy! was a huge hit for children, even though no one else remembers it, featuring the titular anthropomorphic orange unicorn Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) who taught the children in the show important things like dancing and cleaning with upbeat songs and a colorful cast of characters including Betty Bunny, Strappy the backpack, Charlie the train and Mr. Mailbox the mailbox, along with fellow humans Mailman Miles (Bennie Taylor) and Nurse Nancy (Phuong Kubacki). It seems like a harmless show where each episode ends with Buddy hugging the children and singing a song before the next episode airs, but when one kid defies Buddy he's killed off-screen, and fellow child Freddy (Delaney Quinn) discovers the boy's bloody book in the trash. She begins to think Buddy isn't as friendly as he seems, and after witnessing him killing another character she gets the other kids together in an attempt to flee to Diamond City. Buddy chases after them in a blood-soaked quest for vengeance as in the outside world Grace (Cristin Milioti) struggles with feelings that she once had another child apart from the two she already has, forcing her to dive deeper into the history of the It's Buddy! show.
2026 has been a stellar year for horror movies, especially coming from young up-and-coming talented directors like YouTube creators Kane Parsons ("Backrooms") and Curry Barker ("Obsession"), and "Buddy" continues that trend with young director Casper Kelly, who created the sensational "Too Many Cooks" show, and who's talented through-line continues here. The show "Too Many Cooks" is an elongated spoof intro modeled after classic TV shows like "Full House" where an upbeat jingle is juxtaposed with characters greeting the camera after getting caught in an awkward chore or moment, but slowly becomes darker and darker. That same motif is used with "Buddy," where the film starts with two classic episodes of the show filled with a color palate akin to a Technicolor dreamscape but slowly descends into the darkness it hides. It's truly an acid-trip of a movie, where moments don't seem to make sense and there's a jarring second act that totally abandons its premise in what could've been a total disaster but due to Kelly's masterful direction actually makes sense - when, in reality, nothing about this movie should.
The titular Buddy is played in person by Sergey Zhuravsky but voiced by the always lovable Keegan-Michael Key, who further adds to the unease. Although his voice is slightly disguised as more childish, you can tell who it is, and immediately you're led to believe his love for the children is real because this is the same guy who starred in "Key & Peele" for so long. You even buy into his tyrannical hold over the children of the show and believe he's doing things for their own good, but when the kids start revolting you find Buddy's true sadistic side as the movie doesn't shy away from doing the unthinkable: killing children.
The child actors in this movie all do impeccable work, Delaney Quinn, Caleb Williams, Luke Speakman, Madison Skyy Polan, and Tristan Borders should be commended for their performances, especially since another child-killing-centric movie also came out this year, Eli Roth's "Ice Cream Man," and gave us something on the totally opposite end of the spectrum: terrible acting and a convoluted, nonsensical story. If you're looking for the best child killing movie of the year, "Buddy" is your safe bet (although you might want to clear your browser history if you look it up online). The kids embark on a "Wizard of Oz" style adventure through the woods and deserts to get to the fabled Diamond City (which, of course, resembles the illustrious Oz) while Buddy hunts them down with an axe. Again, the set pieces are immaculate, as is with Buddy's home, and shot with the classic thinner frame that is reminiscent of the classic children's shows of yore.
The second act takes a strong pivot as we now enter the real world and mother Grace (played with dutiful seriousness by "The Penguin" star Cristin Milioti). She is living the carefree suburban life with her loving husband (played by equally committed Topher Grace) and her two young sons, but something seems off. There's an extra seat at the table, and she begins thinking that they had another child that no one else remembers. This leads her to investigate the show It's Buddy! and finds a connection between the two that, again, on paper shouldn't work, but somehow does due to the magic of the movie.
While the gore and violence is impressive, I guess I expected more, with as many characters getting killed offscreen as well as onscreen, and I wanted more to satisfy my insane bloodlust. Still, the violence I do see is both grotesque and hilarious, with Buddy himself undergoing a laughably purposefully bad metamorphosis.
Perhaps the best thing about "Buddy" is the stupidity of American families, who have brought their children to the movie thinking it's a family-friendly affair after seeing just the poster (which, again, doesn't seem as wholesome as one might think) and becoming angry that they subjected their children to a movie that'll send them to therapy. It reminds me of when I used to work at Hollywood Video and this lady brought up a DVD of "Happy Tree Friends" and I had to tell her that it's not a kid-friendly show. I should've let her suffer her repercussions but back then I still had a heart.
Zany, outrageous, filled with practical gore and violence and supplying an acid-trip adventure, "Buddy" is a continuation of the best horror has to offer in 2026, which will leave even adults having nightmares about a seemingly lovable orange unicorn-turned-demon out for their souls.
The Score: A+
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