Children’s television shows have the power to teach kids positive values and educate them through entertainment. But sometimes programs feel a bit too sterile and sanitized, and parents are left to wonder what happens when the cameras aren’t rolling in between episodes. Buddy imagines the most sinister option, which is that the children of its title character’s show are actually trapped and being held against their well, stripped of their memories and forced to indulge this vicious unicorn in keeping up his perfect little universe.
It’s Buddy features Buddy (Keegan Michael-Key), a unicorn who comes to life when kids call his name. Everything is going fine in this sweet little world until Josh (Luke Speakman) refuses to dance. When Wade (Caleb Williams) finds Josh’s beloved book in the trash with blood stains on it and then sees Buddy strangling Nurse Nancy (Phuong Kubacki), he and Freddy (Delaney Quinn) hatch a plan to try to escape with Oliver (Tristan Broders) and Hannah (Madison Skyy Polan). As Buddy tries to continue exerting control, he finds a necessary replacement nurse in Grace (Cristin Milioti), who was sensing that there was something missing from her life before she herself got sucked into this torturous prison.
This film brings to mind Death to Smoochy, which isn’t an entirely accurate comparison since this takes place almost entirely within Buddy’s world, aside from Grace’s introduction before she too is pulled into it. Though Michael-Key voices Buddy, who is played by Sergey Zhuravsky, he’s not a man in a costume but instead an animal entity who just wants to be the center of attention and to have the kids sing so that the credits roll, grounding the film and its central TV series in the year 1999.
Buddy is clearly a parody of Barney and other animal hosts of children’s programs, and this is a twisted vision of what might happen if those shows explored more adult themes like murder. It’s funny how casual Buddy is when he starts maiming the adults in the show, including the completely clueless Mailman Miles (Bennie Taylor), and then assuring the kids that he’s not mad. What’s most entertaining is when the kids start to realize that they don’t have to behave perfectly, and manage to gain some ground by singing a cruel version of the lullaby-like anthem that’s supposed to close out each episode.
Key does great voiceover work, and Michael Shannon is a fitting choice to play Charlie the Train, who operates between Buddy’s yard and Diamond City. The young cast of this film, however, are its best assets, particularly Quinn, making a return to Sundance after a much more serious role in last year’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You as Rose Byrne’s daughter. She has great comedic timing that emerges after previously being someone more prone to following the rules, and she’s in fantastic company with Williams, Broders, and Polan, who perform perfectly as this film’s carefully calibrated tone fluctuates with its plot developments.
Milioti is as committed as always in what feels like an even darker and admittedly more juvenile version of an episode of Black Mirror. Patton Oswalt is fun as the voice of Strappy, Freddy’s talking backpack, and things do admittedly get weird when Clint Howard shows up as an adult wandering the wilderness on the way to Diamond City. For the most part, this film leans just enough into its horror-comedy sensibilities, and it sticks the landing with a fitting ending that feels true to its journey. Buddy most certainly is not for everyone, but those willing to laugh at its send-up of children’s TV shows and the horrors that could lurk behind them should have a great time.
Movie Rating: 7/10
Buddy premieres in the Midnight section at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
