#350: Buddy

Release Date: August 28th, 2026

Format: DCP (Cinemark at The Pike Outlets in Long Beach, CA)

Written by: Casper Kelly and Jamie King

Directed by: Casper Kelly

3 Stars

If you find Buddy’s gimmick amusing - a Barney-esque orange unicorn that kidnaps and kills kids on the set of a children’s TV show - then you’re going to like the film from writer/director Casper Kelly (with a screenwriting assist from Jamie King). 

If you’re hoping for more than the gimmick, you might be a little disappointed. 

To be fair, there is an attempt by Kelly and King to provide some exposition for who and what Buddy is, and to show the children make a Truman Show-like attempt to escape his artificial reality, but I’m not sure I cared that much.

The movie’s appeal is in that gimmick: A seemingly lovable unicorn that sings songs about friendship one minute and then bludgeons a child to death the next.  It’s simple, sinister, and surprisingly funny (if you’re into that kinda thing).  

Postscript: The child actors are great, as is Patton Oswalt as the voice of Strappy, the lovable talking backpack.