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Director Casper Kelly made his name with the 2014 viral horror short for Adult Swim, Too Many Cooks. The film is basically an 11-minute TV theme tune that layers needling repetition, perky vocals and inane lyrics with increasingly surreal elements to skewer vintage network staples — from chipper family sitcoms through cop shows, primetime soaps, cartoons, superhero action and cheesy sci-fi, until a slasher villain with a machete hijacks the proceedings just in time for the episode to begin. It’s a neat conceit, a postmodern, genre-crashing parody that takes a wrecking ball to our nostalgia for television entertainment of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, without overstaying its welcome
That’s one of the key weaknesses of Kelly’s sporadically amusing Buddy, a variation on a theme that stretches its sketch-comedy idea to feature length by upping the gore and the demented detours but doesn’t go far enough to be as extreme or disturbing as it wants to be. The movie’s biggest plus is the inspired voice work of Keegan-Michael Key as the title character, which might help it rustle up a small but appreciative stoner audience on streaming platforms.
The Bottom Line In need of sharper teeth.
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Before we get Ayo Edebiri and Daniel Kaluuya’s take on an A24 Barney movie, a project that’s been in some various level of development hell for seven years, here comes Buddy. Like an off-brand ripoff from the 90s (anyone remember Ricky’s Room?), he’s another friendly, furry friend to wide-eyed young children, the main star of a TV show we’re thrown straight into, neatly styled to feel like we’re suddenly transported back to that era (similar to 2024’s far darker and far superior Sundance throwback I Saw the TV Glow).
The formula is familiar – lessons, singing, syllables overpronounced – but there’s something off. The persistence of Buddy, an orange unicorn with undying enthusiasm, is bordering on aggressive as his playful suggestion to dance suddenly devolves into something far more sinister. What if Buddy isn’t really our friend after all?
For the rare few who have seen 2002’s black comedy flop Death to Smoochy, the sight of a Barney-adjacent figure losing his temper might not be a novel surprise, but in Buddy we’re not just witnessing a temporary breakdown. Writer-director Casper Kelly, whose work has mostly been for Adult Swim, wants us to see him as a…