As kids, many of us wanted to inhabit a fictional world for various reasons. Maybe we wished we could be in Narnia with talking animals and adventures. Or we wanted to be in the Shire eating food, farming, and having fun. If you were a kid in the early 1990s, you probably wanted to exist on a TV show like Barney & Friends. Who wouldn’t want a big talking dinosaur who wants to play all day as a forever friend? Every problem is solved quickly, the kids on the show are all smiles, and there are comforting and catchy songs. But, as we all know, the idyllic world that Barney presents is far from reality and, in fact, hints are some darker elements of our lives.
There are careful constructs that these kid characters must abide by. They are almost perfect, they never cry for more than a short spell, and they don’t have mean grown ups in their lives or complex family problems. They behave like well-trained dogs, reacting to commands and never stepping out of line to just be a messy and chaotic kid. It all feels 1) cultish and 2) like the foundation of the toxic positivity that many people radiate on social media today. What if those smiling faces were hiding deeper pain and disturbing knowledge? What if Barney wasn’t as jovial and loving as he seemed?
This is what Casper Kelly takes a humorous and oft-disturbing stab at with Buddy, a horror comedy film about kids trapped in a 1990s era show with a malevolent orange unicorn who will only accept compliance. The character is expertly voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, and the film likely wouldn’t have worked without his careful attention to Buddy’s vocal inflections and tone. (Sidenote: I could be reading this wrong, but I find it funny that Buddy is an insecure orange rage machine who lures in followers via television. And he is ready to threaten and take down anyone who even slightly disagrees with him or “hurts his feelings.” Sound familiar?)
The film really dives into the cult-like aura around nostalgic kids shows and interweaves in pop culture staples like The Wizard of Oz. Buddy balances dark humor, camp, and pointed commentary about childhood autonomy, rebellion, and narcissism well. But it never feels like it fully leans into its unique premise quite hard enough. Despite some shockingly bloody moments, there’s something about Buddy that feels underbaked, and that keeps it from being a great movie.
Buddy opens with kids who are indeed NOT actors singing the show’s tune and seemingly having a good time. However, things soon begin to unravel when one kid is tired of playing along and decides to do what a normal kid does: make a firm choice on his own.
Well, his pushback against Buddy’s wishes doesn’t go well, and the kids soon begin to piece together the dark truth about this world they are in. Buddy becomes increasingly violent and intimidating in-between his attempts to maintain his joyful facade. He wants a great big hug at the end of whatever the day brings so they can do it all over again, but ain’t shit sweet about this show.
The film’s child actors are delightful to watch and play their palpable fear relatively well, especially Freddy, which is quite the interesting name choice for obvious slasher history reasons. Played by Delaney Quinn, young Freddy begins to lead the rebellious charge against Buddy and expose him for the murderous s**t that he is. It is interesting that, even after witnessing Buddy’s bad behavior and his threatening against them, the children still used many of the foundational lessons they learned from him (often in song form) to find courage and resolve.
It speaks to the dynamic that kids can have with the adults in their lives, even when the latter are truly terrible people. They have the ability to filter the darkness and desperately try to hold onto the nuggets of joy, security, and light. There’s even an allusion to Stockholm Syndrome in one character’s case.
Things begin to get murkier on the storytelling front when the film loops from its nostalgic fantasy hell to make real-world connections. While Cristin Milioti is always a delight in any role, her character’s introduction into this nightmarish situation starts off intriguing and subsequently fizzles. The film’s final showdown unveils new truths and leaves much to speculate. That isn’t inherently a bad thing because, well, we don’t always need an explanation for why evil exists nor deep lore about the world it is couched in. But it would have played better with more suspense, scares, bizarreness, and higher stakes for Freddy and friends.
The conceit of turning cheery children’s television into a secret horror show is a fantastic premise. However, Buddy never maximizes on the bleak absurdness that should abound. It’s entertaining and weird enough to keep your attention, and doesn’t feel overly long thanks to its 90 minute run. It nails the quirky aesthetics and tropes of those kinds of shows, and doesn’t shy away from killing kids. There’s even a couple of unsettling moments that will make you cringe. So it is certainly not a bad film overall. I’d watch it again, and plan to go to the theater to see it. But it doesn’t quite sink its horn all the way in and leaves a little too much of its world nebulous to feel fully satisfying.
Buddy ⭐ (3 of 5)
Buddy hits theaters on August 28.
The post BUDDY Turns Cheery Kids TV Into a Total Horror Show (Review) appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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