If you needed any further evidence that Buddy isn’t actually a children’s movie, its newly minted R rating should do the trick.
Casper Kelly’s twisted horror comedy has officially been rated R for “bloody violence, some drug content and language,” which sounds fairly standard for a horror movie until you get to the final four words of the rating:
“All involving children.”
Well, alrighty then.
Buddy comes from Casper Kelly, the filmmaker behind the brilliantly bizarre viral short Too Many Cooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jamie King. The film takes the warm and fuzzy world of a 1990s children’s television show and turns it into something considerably more sinister.
The official synopsis explains that a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and learning life lessons inside the colorful world of “It’s Buddy!,” hosted by a bright orange unicorn named Buddy. Everything begins to fall apart when one of the children refuses to play along and Buddy isn’t particularly happy about it.
Keegan-Michael Key voices Buddy, with Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt also starring. The film premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was reviewed for Dread Central.
Buddy arrives in theaters August 28, 2026, from Roadside Attractions and Saban Films.
