Closing out this year’s Overlook Film Festival is Buddy, the latest feature film by director Casper Kelly (V/H/S/Halloween, Adult Swim Yule Log). Co-written by Kelly and Jamie King (Jessica Jones, Impulse), the film follows a young girl on a 90s style kids’ TV show starring a giant orange unicorn named Buddy. At first it seems like all fun and games, until Buddy doesn’t get his way.

I’ve had little exposure to Kelly’s work, so I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Buddy. This film is wildly inventive. The children’s show the film almost entirely takes place in is quite obviously inspired by Barney & Friends. It seems innocent enough with a group of kids doing activities with their stuffed animal named Buddy, who can transform into a giant walking, talking unicorn. Together the kids sing along with Buddy and learn important life lessons. Yet the moment one of the children doesn’t want to play along with Buddy’s games, things take a dramatic turn. It shows the children not only realizing their hero is really the villain, but it puts them on a dangerous escape mission that is as funny as it is suspenseful. The premise of Buddy seems relatively simple, but Kelly and King wrote something that feels quite special. Most millennials grew up seeing characters like Barney on TV and wanting to be part of those shows. By placing the audience in something similar and turning it into a horrific nightmare, it helps to create a compelling story. As the film progresses, the lore expands to show just how evil Buddy really is and how he’s able to carry out his evil deeds. While certain aspects of the end might leave a few lingering questions around that lore, it makes enough sense to not detract too much from what’s happening on screen. Yet what really makes the plot of Buddy successful is how it treats both the comedy and the drama. When something funny happens, it’s pure comedy. When something more serious happens, the film really leans into that drama and takes out any possible humor. The only scenes of overlapping humor and terror are the more violent scenes with Buddy. Otherwise, the film allows for the laughs and the tears to be as earnest as possible, which is surprising in such a fantastical horror comedy as this.

Buddy has two very different types of performances. There is the children’s show acting, which is very intentionally over-the-top and cheesy. Then there’s the acting when Buddy’s spell begins to lift or we get glimpses of the real world. Those are the moments when the actors really get to shine and show their skills. Delaney Quinn (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, The Roses) stars as Freddy. Freddy is the first to notice something isn’t quite right with Buddy. Quinn is a fantastic young actor, able to do the more comedic TV show acting before really blossoming into a more serious, thrilling performance that creates the emotional core of the entire film. After seeing Quinn as Freddy, it’s clear she’s a young actor to watch in the coming years. Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs, The Penguin) stars as Grace, a mother from the real world who gets tangled in Buddy’s web. Much like Freddy, Grace is the one to first notice something is off in the real world, leading her down a dangerous path. Milioti is great in this role, transforming into the maternal parental figure ready to fight for and protect the kids taken by Buddy. The film also features other great performances from Topher Grace (Predators), Tristan Borders (The Righteous Gemstones), Madison Skyy Polan (Despicable Me 4), and Caleb Williams (Abbott Elementary) as well as phenomenal voice performances from Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), and Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water).

The story being told and the performances in Buddy are wonderful, but it’s the visuals that really make this film a standout. At the start of Buddy, it’s almost as if the audience is watching episodes of a children’s show from the 90s. The screen even has the classic square aspect ratio and the graininess of older TV shows. When Buddy’s powers start to wane, that’s when the visuals switch to a more traditional full-screen aspect ratio with better picture quality. It’s a great way to not only transport the audience into the show, but to also easily convey when we’re getting a look into reality. Even the sound design helps create this differentiation between the fantastical world and the real world. In the show, there is a tinniness to the sound that is reminiscent of the 90s and the volume jumps around from low to high volume while the real world is more clear and balanced. Not to mention, there are some fun, silly songs created for Buddy’s show that will feel very nostalgic for millennial audiences. The costume for Buddy is at first very much like Barney. He’s a giant orange unicorn, but really he’s a man in a big stuffed costume. To show how “real” Buddy is, he does get some rather grotesque injuries that show he’s more than just stuffing beneath the surface. Audiences will also appreciate the various puppeted characters such as Mr. Mailbox and Strappy the backpack. Everything is done with intention to create a clear line between the TV show and reality, all while adding plenty of horror to the whimsy.

Buddy is a hilarious, suspenseful, and heartfelt adventure turning millennial nostalgia into the stuff of nightmares. The script created by Kelly and King takes the familiar and turns it on its head, allowing for a wild descent into children’s show madness. Kelly did a wonderful job bringing this idea to the big screen, taking something that is so outrageously silly and turning it into a dark, emotional tale. The performances across the board are superb, with young Quinn being the heart and soul of the film. If the plot and performances aren’t enough to entice audiences, the visuals certainly will. The format starting out episodic with a dated look then shifting into more modern visuals as the terror begins is incredibly clever and effective. If you’re interested in having your childhood memories warped and turned into something far more sinister, then be sure to keep an eye out for Buddy.

OVERALL RATING: 8/10