Courtney Howard // Film Critic
BUDDY
Rated R, 1 hour and 35 minutes
Directed by: Casper Kelly
Starring: Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Cristin Milioti, Keegan-Michael Key, Sergey Zhuravsky, Caleb Williams, Bennie Taylor, Eric Bauza, Patton Oswalt, Luke Speakman, Madison Skyy Polan, Tristan Borders, Jimmica Collins, Cedwan Hooks, Phuong Kubacki
From SESAME STREET to BARNEY, children’s television programming has been a popular teaching tool used in early childhood development. For some, those preschool-targeted shows count amongst the very first educational series many kids rely on to learn, laugh and expand their worlds. Decades later, in the current era of Miss Rachel’s reign, comes BUDDY, an astoundingly demented and deranged horror spoof that perverts the concept of wholesome children’s programming. Part insane slasher, part poignant coming-of-age drama, it’s a subversive middle finger to the generations that didn’t adequately prepare millennials and Gen Z for the shit-show of adulthood. ‘90s kids will feel seen, heard and – possibly – scared.
Tween Freddy (Delaney Quinn) has begun to question her place in the world, starring on a colorful kids’ TV show starring Buddy (Keegan-Michael Key), a furry orange unicorn with a bubbly, upbeat voice and a love of kids, silly songs and people who adore him. It’s a literally inescapable environment, meaning that when the show wraps and the end credits roll, it automatically begins again on the next episode. She has no memory of where she came from, nor what her life might be outside of this uncanny set. Yet, since the show is serialized, she can carry memories over from one episode to the next. Her awakening occurs when co-star Josh (Luke Speakman) rebels against Buddy’s wishes, goes missing and leaves behind a blood splattered book.
As Buddy welcomes new recruit Hannah (Madison Skyy Polan) into the crew, Freddy implores co-stars Wade (Caleb Williams) and Oliver (Tristan Borders) to help get to the bottom of this mystery and not alarm their potential captor. The kids also seek help from Nurse Nancy (Phuong Kubacki) and Buddy’s bestie Betty Bunny (Jimmica Collins), to no avail. As death and destruction eclipse the formerly happy wonderland, Freddy’s parents Grace (Cristin Milioti) and Ben (Topher Grace) struggle to remember they even had a daughter. Hijinks and hilarity ensue as Grace travels to an unknown realm to rescue her distressed daughter who’s struggling to survive a vicious onslaught from a once cuddly creature.
An imaginative, dark underbelly of children’s programming comes to pitch black comedic life in Casper Kelly and company’s hands. Asserting child actors have been kidnapped from their families sets the sharp tonal bandwidth. The filmmakers seemingly posit that shows like BARNEY, SESAME STREET, and MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD insidiously tell children how to think, feel and react with a hyper focus on psychological problem-solving rather than encourage free thinkers.
Themes are slight, though they primarily ruminate on the loss of innocence, nostalgia, denial and trust. Unrelenting anxiety and over-the-top comedy balance each other out nicely. Aesthetically, Kelly differentiates between the two worlds through a filmic language where the TV series is shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio like we’re watching an old VHS tape and Grace’s color-drained reality is widescreen. That said, Kelly and co-writer Jamie King experience some trouble combining the two distinct worlds (the TV’s show bright, pushed medium and Grace’s awkward, stark reality dealing with the grief of an incomplete family unit) from a narrative standpoint, leading to a disjointed feel.
While the story is unpredictable around every turn, there’s not much disarming surprise to it. We expect our journey will take us into some bonkers places – and the film pays off on that promise of the premise. However, there’s little tangible reward earned. Expecting outrageous insanity is the worst kind of feeling. We’d rather be caught off-guard by bananas shenanigans. Once we figure out the rules of the world, Buddy’s unraveling quickly follows suit. Buddy reveals himself to be a monstrous personality soon enough to let the rampage ensue.
The melee unfolds with a ton of artistic panache, from the puppeteering and voice actors’ work to the production design. Buddy’s man-in-suit Sergey Zhuravsky and Betty Bunny’s woman-in-suit Cedwan Hooks deserve top honors, channeling the performances of kiddie show familiars. They don’t just cartoonishly parody these characters, but create wholly original movements and designs. Patton Oswalt, who voices Freddy’s talking backpack Strappy, and Eric Bauza, who voices Mr. Mailbox, Worry Well, Couchy, Trashy and Pee Flower, both understood the assignment. Anna Kathleen’s production design provides an anachronistic comforting vibrancy and ebullience, most notably when the Barney-style color palette juxtaposes the narrative’s grimmer leanings in the latter half.
Grade: 3.5 out of 5
BUDDY is now playing in theaters.
