We all know there is a sinister side to kids’ TV shows. It doesn’t matter what animal, creature, or thing leads the show; there’s always something new to learn in the episode, with a song and a basic lesson learned. Buddy introduces us to the lovable orange unicorn and his group of friends who like to play, dance, and sing all day. Though the intro seems normal enough, the minute the episode starts, something is not right. Just think Barney, Wizardora, and the likes of Lazy Town with more blood and sharp objects.
A group of kids realises they are trapped inside a 90s-style children’s television show, where their host, Buddy, an orange fluffy unicorn, slowly becomes more unhinged and violent. Buddy is a film of segments, unofficially divided up. First we experience what Buddy pretends to be, then we realise something is mortally wrong. Before we can catch our breath, we are thrown into a completely different scenario, in the real world, before we return to the foam land of nightmares. Buddy plays on familiar genre tropes not just in the 90s TV style, but amusingly, follows a plot like a true slasher film, complete with a final girl.
The nature of Buddy is briefly discussed but never explored beyond his need to be loved and control everything, as well as his need to kill. The Buddy ‘lore’ is left to the imagination as we are given scrapes to work with. But nothing could be more disturbing than a warped children’s TV character asking playfully, ‘why you stabbing yourself’ over and over. Especially when the character is a giant orange unicorn voiced perfectly by Keegan-Michael Key. The cast of young actors also definitely deserve credit for their performances as they fully embrace the murderous chaos. It’s also fun to hear other famous voices make an appearance as inanimate objects such as Patton Oswalt as a backpack and Michael Shannon as a train.
Directed and co-written by Casper Kelly, who cut his teeth making Adult Swim features and writing that infamous Cheddar Goblin segment in Mandy, you’d expect there to be a dark comedic tone within the film. Though there are a few laughs sprinkled throughout, the film is light on the comedy, heavy on the sinister tone and the never ending sense of foreboding terror.
One glaring flaw in this entire set up is that this is set on a kids show. Everything is silly, over the top, colourful and practically every inanimate object has a mouth and eyes so even when Buddy transforms into a very different creature, its still a kids show costume. The fear factor is more about the situation the kids find themselves in, rather than a big orange unicorn. Buddy is indeed sinister but the menace is still shown through a TV lens, stripping away any sense of reality. Anything that happens in Buddy’s world basically feels as if we’re just watching a show.
For those who like questions answered in their films, Buddy is sure to infuriate. And yet, there are still many things to enjoy within the film. The slasher element is fun and terrifying enough, as well as each new discovery and realisation the traumatised kids experience. The real key to accepting Buddy is to ask as little questions as possible and let yourself be dragged into existential dread and fear. You need to take that brave step into just believing anything that’s thrown at you. And as Buddy sings to us, you can’t be brave without fear.
Buddy had its UK Premiere at FrightFest 2026 on Friday, August 28
