Buddy

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Buddy

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1h 35m

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Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

134 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Verified Ratings

Remember BUDDY--the bright orange unicorn and star of that classic children's television show who brought joy and life lessons into your living room? Inside the colorful world of "It's Buddy!", a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world.

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Critics Consensus

Buddy weaponizes the cheery conventions of children's entertainment into an inventive, hilarious, and creepy descent into pop culture madness.

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Audience Says

Intentionally weird and darkly funny, Buddy is to horror fans what Bluey is to millennial parents: chicken soup for the soul.

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Joey Shapiro

Chicago Reader

Sep 8, 2026

I’m also not sure if it has anything to say that hasn’t already been said by the numerous direct-to-Tubi movies that came before it.

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Alison Willmore

New York Magazine/Vulture

Sep 8, 2026

It wants to bring to mind is not some half-remembered children’s programming but an Adult Swim show that riffed on that sort of stuff. And, costume-character carnage aside, that’s just not as compelling.

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

Sep 1, 2026

Enjoyably weird to the end, its horror soul in line with the creepypasta ethos of something undefined yet eternal.

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Nicholas Bell

Fish Jelly Films (YouTube)

3 days ago

3.5/5

Casper Kelly perverts the syrupy schmaltz of 90s children's television programs with Buddy, creating what feels like a trippy mixture of David Lynch and Lewis Carroll, seemingly intended to terrorize children and disturb adults.

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Edwin Arnaudin

Asheville Movies

4 days ago

B+

Certifiably insane.

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Joseph Tomastik

Loud and Clear Reviews

5 days ago

4.5/5

The most horrific thing to ever hit preschool programming since the creation of Caillou.

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Emma

4 hrs ago

Shit was weird as fuck

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WJT

5 hrs ago

it was a good movie. it really seemed like a kids show then bloodshed. if you want to scare someone who used to watch barney show them is movie.

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knight Templar

8 hrs ago

A little slow at the beginning and feels like you are watching a bad episode of Barney the dinosaur. Then it gets going and going and yes I see why people compare it to back rooms. I enjoy specially what happens at the end.

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CoolDevv

23 hrs ago

I did not like the huge cliffhanger and would of liked more lore added, and the climax didn’t really feel that big .

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Sophia

1 day ago

it was kind of weird

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Shamir

1 day ago

This movie has good potential. It was very entertaining. Perhaps it was leading up to a sequel or prequel. However, the horror aspect of the movie was not up to par with today’s standards. I wish they will go hack the drawing board and implement more lore behind the scariness of a Barney caricature. Overall the perfect of the kids an A+ on acting.

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Buddy: Teaser - The Best Movie in the World!

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Buddy: Teaser Trailer

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Synopsis

Remember BUDDY--the bright orange unicorn and star of that classic children's television show who brought joy and life lessons into your living room? Inside the colorful world of "It's Buddy!", a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world.

Director: Chris 'Casper' Kelly
Producer: Tyler Davidson, Drew Sykes, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Tracy Rosenblum
Screenwriter: Chris 'Casper' Kelly, Jamie King
Distributor: Roadside Attractions / Saban Films
Production Co: BoulderLight Pictures, Low Spark Films, Sipur Studios, Substance
Rating: R (Bloody Violence|Some Drug Content|Language)
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 28, 2026, Wide
Box Office (Gross USA): $21.2M
Runtime: 1h 35m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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