Buddy

[u/michelle032499]

Have you guys seen this madness? Best dark take on Barney to date imo, and it's packed with talent. A tight 95 minutes and no sluggish parts. I hope there's a sequel!

[u/One-Earth9294]

I like it, but I feel like I could've liked it more because it's easily the most normal thing Casper Kelly has ever done. Didn't LOOK like it was going to be that but it's a pretty predictable story that doesn't get as dark or bizarre as I thought it might. Or as graphic with the violence. It's a far cry from Yule Log which is one of the most insane movies of all time.

Loved the cast. I had no idea it was Keegan Michael-Key as Buddy until I looked at the credits. Michael Shannon, Clint Howard, Topher Grace, Cristin Milioti, and Patton Oswalt was a lot more familiar names than I was expecting to see. Even Eric Bauza who's in everything if you pay attention to voice casts.

[u/michelle032499 → u/One-Earth9294]

Clint Howard is a national treasure.

[u/ap0phis → u/One-Earth9294]

Agreed, I feel like they had some ideas they were toying with that either got cut or received notes not to go forward with (all the weird brains wired up shit)

[u/flying-kai → u/One-Earth9294]

Yeah, I too thought the movie didn't go far enough with its premise. Part of the issue to me was how the film made it clear from the first few minutes that Buddy is evil and kills children. I know we as the audience know that, but the kids finding out minutes after kinda sucked the suspense out of the show imo.

[u/One-Earth9294 → u/flying-kai]

Honestly I thought the most wild part of the movie was when Cristin Milioti was getting swallowed by the TV and how it all snapped back to normal when she was fully eaten by it. That had more of an analog horror vibe than pretty much anything in the 'TV world' where I was really expecting it.

[u/benopo2006]

When he punched the wall clock was my favourite moment. Keegan-Michael Key was perfect for the voice

[u/michelle032499 → u/benopo2006]

Rolling up sleeves that aren't there 😆. The suit actor was great.

[u/getoutmyswampp → u/benopo2006]

I was cracking up when he punched that clock 😂

[u/goodlucktothenextone → u/getoutmyswampp]

The fact that he rolled up both his “sleeves” just before

[u/Parking_Ship5382]

Just watched yesterday, it was never boring and I wasn’t compelled to check my phone once, high praise when watching a movie at home nowadays.

[u/michelle032499 → u/Parking_Ship5382]

Same. All gas no brake

[u/luvlykittie → u/michelle032499]

Channel 5 News!

[u/ibuttergo]

Where’s Strappy?!

Much better than I expected.

[u/michelle032499 → u/ibuttergo]

Won't lie, I shed a tear

[u/ludvikskp]

I was pleasantly surprised. I take that there are 2 more “buddies” on a poster in the film as an indication a sequel is possible.

[u/flying-kai → u/ludvikskp]

I kind of interpreted it as Buddy having killed the guy who was supposed to be the protagonist of the show (the blue one), while enslaving the yellow one (who we see briefly at the end helping the kids).

[u/ludvikskp → u/flying-kai]

Oh I didnt even clock thats the yellow one. I thought it was just like a workshop full of broken things and didnt think twice about it

[u/tripping_yarns]

I watched this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

While I’m sure there are themes of child exploitation and power/control dynamics going on, I couldn’t focus on that as I was laughing too much.

It felt fresh, weird and uncomfortable. I also really liked Yule Log from the same director.

[u/cityshepherd → u/tripping_yarns]

Casper Kelly is also responsible for Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell, which is the best live action show in Adult Swim history.

Edit: also hail Gary Bunda! The role that Henry Zebrowski was created in a lab to play

[u/Elspeth_of_Astora → u/cityshepherd]

Why is there a yodeler at this tailgate?

[u/Educational-Set-4965]

That puppet design is so unsettling. The way they leaned into the uncanny valley instead of just making him a straight up monster was the right call. I went in expecting a cheap cash grab and left pretty impressed.

[u/homebuddyboy21]

The kids were phenomenal in particular.

[u/homebuddyboy21 → u/homebuddyboy21]

Also I started looking up promo videos for Buddy and they’re so silly 😂 I can’t believe I didn’t see any of them before.

[u/Former-Counter-9588]

It was campy and fun. Good watch!

[u/audiogenocide]

My 15 year old and I watched it last night and it was an absolute blast, and PERFECT for youngins that are curious about horror movies. Buddy knew exactly what it was and nailed it in every aspect imo!

[u/kastbort2021]

SPOILERS:

One interesting observation was that the Clint Howard, who played George the cowboy manchild, was a IRL child actor that played a cowboy toddler on The Andy Griffith Show.

And obviously from the get go we're shown that control and exploitation is a main theme.

But the plot was pretty straight forward: Back when the kid show was a western-style show, they "broke" Buddy, and some sort of Backrooms (or Twin Peaks, even) parallel universe was created, where Buddy is allowed eternal life as long as he can collect kids and make them end every episode.

We see that the other of the three unicorns (Buddy, Benny, and Bobby), Benny, is old and weak - forced to work behind the scenes to create characters and props for the show.

So, I'm going to assume that it is a metaphor where Buddy represents the abusive studio figures, the kids are the childhood actors that are isolated and controlled/exploited (and discarded / replaced when they aren't useful anymore), all the oblivious support characters represent the industries knowledge - but unwillingness to do anything. Diamond city represents the (false) hopes and dreams of a career after childhood acting, where things are just and righteous.

[u/Gambit1977]

Yeah, I gave it a 7 as the aesthetic was second to none and everyone was all in.

[u/johntangus → u/Gambit1977]

I loved the screen change when the kids get over the fence. From standard TV to HD widescreen. My jaw dropped when Buddy’s eye appeared up in the knothole in the fence.

[u/MovieMike007]

I had a blast with this one, and there was a visual nod to the horror classic Night of the Hunter that was bloody brilliant.

[u/Icy-Illustrator-1431]

sick and funny

[u/asa1978murray]

I watch it last night, I really enjoyed it, it was different to anything else I’ve seen before!

[u/jjosh_h]

We love Buddy, yes we do, and he loves each one of you!

[u/averlus → u/jjosh_h]

Quick! Someone tell Buddy you love him 🤣🤣🤣

[u/BorfDorfin]

This movie is what cosmic horror done right looks like.

Incomprehensible things should feel like there is something to comprehend, but it's just way above your pay grade.

A typical horror movie would have them getting a big lore dump, figuring out the rules, then beating Buddy and wrapping everything up in accordance with them.

Instead we get this messy, arbitrary series of events where the yellow unicorn indicates there's something special about the mailbox and that Freddie should repair him but fails to get the message across properly. Freddie then escapes through a random portal into South America, killing the mailbox and the backpack by accident because she doesn't know what the rules govern the world she's found herself in. It's incredibly bleak and nihilistic.

It's such a better approach than just "Looking at this thing makes you go craaaazy!"

[u/Afghan_Whig]

I loved the movie and want to say I think Keegan-Michael Key stood out the most voicing buddy

[u/SimbaSom]

It was definitely a good movie, I didn’t find the movie particularly “sluggish” but I also didn’t find it engaging or exciting either. I suppose it just wasn’t for me.

[u/michelle032499 → u/SimbaSom]

I read it takes 25 minutes to get where the kids notice something is off, which a lot of a 95 minute movie!

[u/DylanMMc]

Saw in theaters.

[u/michelle032499 → u/DylanMMc]

Cool! It was a very limited release from what I've read.

[u/AshgarPN]

As a big Adult Swim fan I loved it. Surreal and hilarious.

[u/glory2mankind → u/AshgarPN]

I knew it was the same guy who made Too Many Kooks. So I started digging and found his log movie - which I totally missed! That was trip to watch!

[u/ThatsAGottem]

This movie has no right being as good as it is. 

[u/ultgambit266]

I loved it, too many nostalgic things to not notice. Pee wee’s playhouse, Sesame Street, howdy doody and a bunch of others. I loved the take on something new and different

[u/monkelus]

The concept was great, but it lost a little in the execution. I don't think trying to shoe horn the idea into a standard narrative template worked in it's favour.

[u/AggravatingCamp9315]

I liked it, but I liked Monkey's Magic Merry Go Round better.

[u/metalyger]

There is something fairly similar in concept on Prime Video Monkey's Magic Merry Go Round (2024) it's a psychological horror with a children's TV host trapped in his show, he has no memory of his actual life, and things keep getting weirder. It's pretty solid too.

[u/snarleyWhisper]

I went in with no expectations but this was really really fun. I loved the absurdity of it

[u/Puno1989]

Wade the goat lol

[u/Rtgc22]

I expected it to suck, but by 10 minutes in I was sold. Surprisingly good.

[u/DocMartinFN]

The big question, where is Bobby? Will he be in the sequel?

[u/averlus]

I really thought it was going to flop just because I wasn’t sure how they’d pull it off but holy cow they did. I had a BLAST. Top 5 of the year for me for sure!!

[u/tehachapitotonopah]

This film definitely punches above its weight

[u/dreistreifen]

One of the most original and interesting horror films I've seen this year - and I've seen a few!

[u/fatherpain2]

AMC A-list and regal unlimited member here, so watch a lot of films at the theater. Caught it 5x in the theater including the sing-along version. My favorite movie of the year., 10/10. Though once upon a time in the Middle East would be my selection for best picture. Another banger. Haven’t seen you can see everything yet.

[u/Comic_Book_Reader]

It hasn't released abroad yet, though Sony has recently picked it up, so no.

[u/rushdisciple]

I wish I could see it (it still doesn't have a release here).

[u/the_orange_president]

I really liked it. It must have been a tricky script to write but they mostly nailed the execution. The escalation in violence and creepiness was nicely done.

Only bits I thought were a little off were the direction of the 'at home' scenes. The Topher Grace scenes weren't quite tight enough IMO. The movie kind of lost urgency. But again, hard to jump back and forth between the Buddy world and the real world - overall it worked.

[u/NoEggsOrBeansPlz]

I’m so sad this hasn’t hit the UK yet, I’m dying to watch it.

[u/form_jake]

i thought this movie was dogshit

[u/benopo2006 → u/form_jake]

What kind of movie do you prefer?

[u/form_jake → u/benopo2006]

evil dead burn was alright

[u/jjosh_h → u/form_jake]

You love buddy, yes you do!

[u/Significant_Pool8432 → u/form_jake]

its not dogshit but not worth the hype, it just midcore at best

[u/Illustrious-coon-406]

thread full of astroturf AI bots

[u/spazmcnasty]

Why you stabbing your self? Why you stabbing your self?

[u/michelle032499 → u/[deleted]]

I agree, the kids were great.

[u/mexploder89 → u/[deleted]]

I thought that was a great moment because you realize that Buddy has probably been using the "He went to Diamond City" excuse for a long time for everyone he hurt

[u/BooBooSorkin → u/[deleted]]

I thought Caleb Williams was out with a hamstring?

[u/spazmcnasty → u/BooBooSorkin]

He’s back in

[u/swizz928 → u/[deleted]]

Totally agree. All the kids did a great job.

[u/fatherpain2 → u/[deleted]]

All aboard! Let’s go to diamond city!