Editorial · Article
Buddy (2026) Review: Our Scores, the Jump Scare Times, and Casper Kelly's Killer-Unicorn Horror
In US theaters now · Roadside Attractions / Saban Films · Directed by Casper Kelly
By Alan Willey · · Updated
Buddy is a 2026 horror-comedy written and directed by Casper Kelly, the writer of the 2014 Adult Swim short Too Many Cooks. It is his first feature. The film is built around a Barney-style children's show whose host, a giant orange unicorn named Buddy, turns violent when the children on the show defy him.
Buddy premiered in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026, where Roadside Attractions and Saban Films acquired it for a US theatrical release. It was originally dated September 4, 2026, and has since been moved up a week to August 28. Festival reviews were largely positive.
Release details
Buddy premiered in the Midnight section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 22. Roadside Attractions and Saban Films acquired it there and set a US theatrical release for September 4, 2026, then moved it up a week to Friday, August 28, 2026. It runs 95 minutes and is rated R.
Casper Kelly directed the film from a script he wrote with Jamie King, and BoulderLight Pictures produced it. Kelly has spent years writing for Adult Swim; Buddy is his first feature.
What is Buddy about?
The film moves between two worlds. In one, set in the late 1990s, a group of children live inside "It's Buddy!", a Barney-style kids' show hosted by Buddy, a giant orange humanoid unicorn with a purple heart on his chest. The show world includes a clubhouse, talking household objects, and an anthropomorphic rabbit roommate. In the other, Grace (Cristin Milioti) lives an ordinary suburban life with her husband (Topher Grace) and two kids, with a growing sense that something is wrong.
Buddy runs his show as a friendly host until a child steps out of line, at which point he turns violent. When one of the kids vanishes and the others start to defy him, he sends them on a dangerous journey toward the mythical Diamond City. How the show world and the suburban world connect is the film's central question, and Sundance reviews avoided spoiling it.
Keegan-Michael Key voices Buddy. Michael Shannon and Patton Oswalt also appear.
Who is Casper Kelly? The 'Too Many Cooks' connection
Kelly wrote and directed Too Many Cooks, an eleven-minute Adult Swim short from 2014 that began as a parody of 1980s sitcom opening credits and gradually turned into horror. It went viral and remains the work he is best known for. He also co-created the Adult Swim series "Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell." Much of his work takes a familiar, comforting television format and makes it hostile, which is the same idea Buddy is built on.
Buddy follows a similar path to Backrooms: a creator known for short-form internet work directing a studio-backed feature. In both cases the open question was whether a premise that worked at short length holds up at feature length. Too Many Cooks ran eleven minutes; Buddy runs 95.
Is Buddy scary, or just funny?
Both, and the split is lopsided. We scored Buddy 3.8 out of 10 for fear, which is low in our catalog: it sits under Coraline and level with Heretic. It is not built to frighten you. What it is built to do is unsettle, and our Atmosphere score of 7.5 tells the truer story there, level with 28 Days Later and Oculus. The recreated 1990s children's-show world is the real achievement, and the horror comes from watching it curdle rather than from anything lunging at the camera.
We counted three jump scares watching it in a US theater, and all three land in the back half: two major ones at 1:01:25 and 1:07:01, and a minor one at 1:18:04. Nothing at all in the first hour.
Gore lands at 6.0, level with Alien and Pan's Labyrinth, and Intensity at 5.7. The practical effects are a genuine draw: Buddy is a six-foot puppet with a performer inside rather than a CG character, the late-1990s children's-television look is recreated in detail, and the film would be a different thing with a digital lead.
Two notes for some viewers. The premise puts children in danger and the film does not soften that, and there is a scene of non-consensual sexual contact played for discomfort. It is rated R.
Our full review of Buddy is on the film page, alongside the five-axis score profile.
The killer-mascot horror lineage
Buddy belongs to a familiar strain of horror that turns a symbol of childhood safety into a threat. The closest recent comparison is M3GAN, another horror film about a friendly companion figure that turns violent, played partly as satire. For the vintage-television setting, Late Night with the Devil built its horror inside a recreated 1970s broadcast the way Buddy does with a 1990s kids' show.
On tone, Ready or Not is a horror film that stays funny without softening its violence, and The Cabin in the Woods works by pulling apart a familiar format from the inside. Both are useful reference points for what Buddy does.
Related films on Watch Darkly
M3GAN(2022)
A friendly companion figure built for children turns violent, with a satirical streak. The clearest wide-release comparison for Buddy's premise.
Late Night with the Devil(2023)
Horror staged inside a recreated vintage broadcast, in this case a 1970s late-night talk show. Buddy uses the same approach with a 1990s children's show.
Ready or Not(2019)
A horror-comedy that keeps its violence intact while staying genuinely funny. The closest tonal reference in our catalog for what Buddy is doing.
The Cabin in the Woods(2011)
Horror that takes a familiar format apart from the inside, in that case the slasher. Buddy applies the same idea to the children's television show.
Common questions
- When did Buddy come out?
- August 28, 2026, in U.S. theaters via Roadside Attractions and Saban Films. It was originally dated September 4 and moved up a week. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026.
- Who directed Buddy?
- Casper Kelly, in his feature directorial debut. He's best known for writing the viral 2014 Adult Swim short 'Too Many Cooks' and co-creating 'Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell.'
- What is Buddy about?
- Children live inside a Barney-style 1990s kids' show hosted by Buddy, a giant orange unicorn who turns violent when they defy him. A parallel thread follows a suburban mother (Cristin Milioti) who senses something is wrong. How the two worlds connect is the film's central question, and we are not spoiling it here.
- Is Buddy scary?
- Not in the jump-out-at-you sense. We scored it 3.8 out of 10 for fear, which is low in our catalog, under Coraline and level with Heretic. It works on unease instead, and our Atmosphere score of 7.5 reflects that: the fear comes from a friendly children's-TV world curdling rather than from sudden shocks. We counted three jump scares during a theatrical screening, two major and one minor, all after the one-hour mark. It is rated R, and the premise puts children in danger.
- When are the jump scares in Buddy?
- There are three, and we counted them first-hand during a theatrical screening rather than compiling the number from a jump-scare database. They fall at 1:01:25 (major), 1:07:01 (major), and 1:18:04 (minor). Nothing happens in the first hour. Times run from the start of the film, and other cuts and streaming versions can differ by a few seconds.
- Does Buddy have a post-credits scene?
- No. There is nothing after the film ends, so you can leave once the credits start. We checked in the theater rather than relying on a listing.
- Who is in the cast?
- Cristin Milioti (The Penguin) leads, with Keegan-Michael Key voicing Buddy, plus Topher Grace, Michael Shannon, Patton Oswalt, and Delaney Quinn.
- Is Buddy based on a true story or a real show?
- No. It is an original screenplay by Casper Kelly and Jamie King. The show in the film resembles Barney & Friends and similar 1990s children's programs by design, but it is not based on any real show.
- Is Buddy just a horror version of Barney?
- Not really, and going in expecting that undersells it. The show inside the film is built to look like Barney & Friends, and Buddy is a large friendly costumed character who turns violent, so the comparison is fair on the surface. But the film is not a killer-mascot slasher wearing a Barney skin. A second story runs alongside the show world, and how the two connect is the whole point of the film. That is also why we have kept it unspoiled here.
- Is Buddy worth seeing?
- Yes, and preferably in a theater. We scored it 7.2 out of 10 overall, with its strongest mark going to atmosphere at 7.5. Go for the invention rather than the scares: at 3.8 for fear it is one of the less frightening films in our catalog, and what it does well is build unease out of a children's-television world that curdles. Our full review is on this page.
- When will Buddy be on streaming?
- It's a theatrical release first; no streaming date has been announced. We'll update this once one is set.