One of the hottest films premiering at the ongoing Sundance Film Festival is Buddy, in which a brave girl and her friends must escape a kids’ television show.
The film hails from V/H/S/Halloween director Casper Kelly, who most notably directed the absolutely mental Adult Swim Yule Log and the gut-bustingly funny “Too Many Cooks” viral short.
Buddy, which starsCristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt, had its World Premiere last night at the festival, which is celebrating its final year in Park City, Utah.
Here’s what critics are saying:
“Buddy goes out on a psychedelic high, like an extraordinary experiment in mind control,” says Deadline‘s Damon Wise. “The ending is a headscratcher, but in the best possible, almost Lynchian way, hinting at dark, existential riddles that stay longer in the mind than its crowd-pleasing moments of gross-out comedy.”
The NY Post seemed to enjoy the brain candy, calling it “a screwed-up new horror-comedy” that asks the age-old question, “What if Barney the Dinosaur was a bloodthirsty psychopath?” Writer Johnny Oleksinski adds: “The first 20 minutes were side-splittingly funny.”
“While plenty of blood and guts come spilling out in the process, there is surprisingly little in the way of genuine inventiveness to be found in this genre misfire,” writes Chase Hutchinson of TheWrap. “It earns a chuckle here and there, though it is never consistently funny enough to escape the painfully meandering path it seems insistent on going down.”
Christian Zilko of Indiewire says: “The ‘Too Many Cooks’ auteur appears to have finally received a budget worthy of his talents, and he makes full use of it by playing his greatest hits on a multiplex-worthy scale.” He adds: “Buddy is everything you could want from a midnight movie.”
Here are some social reactions.
If you go in expecting a 90 min version of TOO MANY COOKS, you'll have fun with Casper Kelly's BUDDY. Some of the adult cast feels under- (or poorly-) used, but Keegan Michael-Key and Delaney Quinn are excellent. Won't win Kelly any new fans, but fans will enjoy. #Sundance2026 pic.twitter.com/h8xPB8L63e
— Sean Boelman @ Sundance (@bigtunaonfilm) January 23, 2026
Buddy was a major missed opportunity. The concept should have been a lot of fun, but the film’s tone is wildly inconsistent, and the script tries to do far too much with little to no explanation.
— Scott Menzel (@ScottDMenzel) January 23, 2026
The entire thing feels like a collection of ideas lifted from other films and… pic.twitter.com/Aks2O8MonC
BUDDY
— Anthony @ Sundance 2026 (@AnAntLife) January 23, 2026
A fully original & demented coming of age horror. Casper Kelly's peculiar bloodbath has a lot to show with most of it landing. Keegan Michael Key's voice work is wonderfully disturbing & the puppetry work is so impressive. Loses its footing but always amusing#Sundance2026 pic.twitter.com/N5OL4PO4i6
Buddy – A pretty unhinged comedy-horror film from the guy who made "Too Many Cooks," so you know what you're getting into. But I found myself weirdly drawn into the lore and world that this is setting up, and I hope this becomes a series of equally fucked movies.#Sundance2026 pic.twitter.com/HPlOP3dD6G
— Ross Bonaime (@rbonaime) January 23, 2026
Midnighters and stoners are going to love BUDDY, as I did for most of its twisted, deranged runtime. But I also couldn't shake that satires of kiddie TV feel so yesterday. #Sundance2026https://t.co/jpnb141TIE pic.twitter.com/Brn2McIsQW
— Punch Drunk Critics (@pdcmovies) January 23, 2026
https://ift.tt/Ja2lHqf https://ift.tt/KXWdGfJBUDDY starts off very strong, but really deflates once it ditches its analog horror conceit. It’s far more conventional than anything Casper Kelly has done before and not nearly mean enough; a great premise that’s executed in fairly safe manner. Some might love it! #Sundance2026
— James Preston Poole @ Sundance 2026 (@JamesPPoole) January 23, 2026
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