Sundance Film Festival 2026 Premiere – Have you ever watched kids shows and had an uneasy feeling? Like there might be something dark, sinister even, just below the surface in their plasticine world of joy? There is a reason. Buddy marks the long-awaited feature directorial debut of Casper Kelly, and it delivers the same chaotic, meta, world building as his other works. Have you seen the viral short “Too Many Cooks,” on Adult Swim? This is that guy. The good news is that he proves that he can adapt his zany logic to a longer runtime. Here, Kelly, again focuses on the artifice of 90’s TV to tell the story of story of an orange unicorn that just wants to be loved. Make that loved… at any cost.
The movie begins in the rigidly structured confines of a kids show complete with theme song and credits. Buddy (Sergey Zhuravsky), a massive orange unicorn with a cloying voice and bumbling happiness lives in a world of episodic bliss. Holding court in his colorful world he teaches the cast of four children the joys of cleaning the clubhouse, being a good sport, and facing fears. That is until Buddy faces resistance when trying to teach one of his friends how to dance. Things are “handled”. In the next episode, the non-dancer is replaced with a new cast member. Buddy tells the other kids that their non-dancing friend has gone off to Diamond City, but things don’t seem right. Meanwhile, Freddy (Delaney Quinn) begins to wonder what is going on. The lies that Buddy feeds them just don’t add up. Freddy clues the other kids in on the absurdity of it all and they all plan an escape from their episodic prison.
After three episodes of “Buddy” where things get increasingly worse the kids make it over the playground wall to escape the tyrannical happiness of the giant playmate. While taking a kids show and giving it a dark edge is funny, it’s an easy joke. Thankfully, Kelly and co-writer Jamie King have more going on here than simply goofing on the banality of children’s programming. While any one of us would love to exist in a world where anything can be solved with a hug, that’s not how life works. With Buddy, the happiness and artifice gives way to brutality and violence when the real problems aren’t addressed. When he loses control, boy he really loses control.
What I really loved about the film is how fully realized the world building was. The rules of this anthropomorphic nightmare are mysterious, yet perfectly logical. Production designer Anna Kathleen and Art director Vince Calabrese Start play with the stylized soundstage look that gets more and more textured the further away the children get from the playground. Cinematographer Zach Kuperstein clues us in on the level of reality, changing from a 1:1 aspect ratio for the TV bits to a wider screen when the world expands. Josh Ethier’s editing stays mild until it’s time to crank things up with reality shifting glitches and distortion.
For their parts, the kids really lean into the singsongy delivery to great effect, while knowing how to show their increasing unease. In a side plot that I won’t giveaway, Cristin Milioti is both hilarious and heartbreaking while Topher Grace as her husband does what he does well. There are some notable cameos too that add to the lunacy including Michael Shannon, Keegan-Michael Key, and Clint Howard as the haggard remnants of a forgotten kids cowboy show.
Casper Kelly is a genius of comedic lunacy. Buddy proves that there is substance to his brand of sardonic humor that has more than a punchline in mind. He has created a deliriously absurd, journey through the banal world of children’s programming that serves as both satire and an indictment. Buddy is destined to become a cult classic.
