BUDDY Review: Casper Kelly Turns Children’s Television Into Horror

BUDDY, the new horror film from writer-director Casper Kelly, opened theatrically on August 28 following its international premiere earlier in the month at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Rue Morgue’s review describes the movie as a darkly imaginative take on the familiar format of children’s television, with influences that recall both Barney the dinosaur and PEE-WEE’S PLAYHOUSE. The film begins inside IT’S BUDDY, a fictional children’s program presented in a square aspect ratio with a deliberately fuzzy video appearance. Keegan-Michael Key voices Buddy, a large orange unicorn who teaches gentle lessons alongside talking animal and household-object characters. Patton Oswalt voices Strappy the backpack, while Eric Bauza performs several roles, including Mr. Mailbox and the Worry Well. The program’s cheerful surface begins to fracture when Josh, one of the children appearing on the show, refuses to participate in Buddy’s dance party and subsequently disappears. Hannah, Freddy and Wade grow suspicious, but Buddy does not tolerate resistance to his lessons. According to the review, Kelly and co-writer Jamie King use the premise to explore the darker side of instructional children’s entertainment, where failing to conform can carry frightening consequences. The story later shifts its attention to Grace, a suburban mother played by Cristin Milioti, who senses that something is missing from her life. The connection between Grace’s storyline and the events surrounding Buddy unfolds through twists that the review avoids revealing. Rue Morgue also highlights the film’s craft, including Zach Kuperstein’s use of changing aspect ratios to distinguish the different realms explored in the story. Production designer Anna Kathleen and costume designer Shawna-Nova Foley contribute to the show’s colorful, slightly vintage presentation, while puppet designer Devon Hawkes Ludlow created characters ranging from uncanny to monstrous. Although Milioti receives top billing, the review identifies Delaney Quinn’s performance as the film’s emotional center. Quinn plays Freddy, whose growing realization that Buddy is malevolent leads her to fight for survival. The review credits that performance, along with Kelly’s direction and the screenplay, with moving BUDDY beyond a simple “Barney-gone-bad” premise and into more unusual territory.