Sundance film festival: there’s a dearth of both laughs and scares in this one-joke comedy horror that feels like it would have made for a better short film
B
efore we get Ayo Edebiri and Daniel Kaluuya’s take on an A24 Barney movie, a project that’s been in some various level of development hell for seven years, here comes Buddy. Like an off-brand ripoff from the 90s (anyone remember Ricky’s Room?), he’s another friendly, furry friend to wide-eyed young children, the main star of a TV show we’re thrown straight into, neatly styled to feel like we’re suddenly transported back to that era (similar to 2024’s far darker and far superior Sundance throwback I Saw the TV Glow).
The formula is familiar – lessons, singing, syllables overpronounced – but there’s something off. The persistence of Buddy, an orange unicorn with undying enthusiasm, is bordering on aggressive as his playful suggestion to dance suddenly devolves into something far more sinister. What if Buddy isn’t really our friend after all?
For the rare few who have seen 2002’s black comedy flop Death to Smoochy, the sight of a Barney-adjacent figure losing his temper might not be a novel surprise, but in Buddy we’re not just witnessing a temporary breakdown. Writer-director Casper Kelly, whose work has mostly been for Adult Swim, wants us to see him as a bold new horror icon, creating an elaborate universe centered around his power and influence (Buddy himself even turned up to last night’s midnight premiere). Is Buddy quite deserving of being so forcefully propelled into the spotlight? Not nearly.
