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Buddy (2026)


Buddy is written and directed by Casper Kelly, who is better known as an Adult Swim writer. That probably explains why this type of film is right up his alley. The movie tries to be funny, but it tries way too hard. At the same time, it tries to be a horror movie but doesn't try nearly hard enough. It feels like the whole premise is being pushed to its extreme primarily to create something that could go viral rather than because the story actually has anywhere meaningful to go.

Cristin Milioti is the main actress in the film, and while she's definitely charismatic, her performance feels a bit overdramatic at times. The child actors are all fine with one exception, although none of them really stand out enough to make much of an impression.

Topher Grace is another example of the horrible male characters we've gotten in a long line of that particular trope throughout the 2020s. I can't wait to see what comes next in that line of writing. At this point, it's almost impressive how consistently these movies manage to create male characters that are difficult to take seriously.

The biggest problem is that Buddy doesn't really succeed at much of what it's attempting. It fails to scare, and there aren't any meaningful stakes beyond the obvious child endangerment. Even the filmmaking itself has problems, with traditional dialogue cuts and centering frequently feeling awkward. The movie seems to know exactly what kind of strange premise it wants, but it never figures out how to make that premise genuinely funny, scary, or compelling. Result: C-

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