The Director Of Wild New R-Rated Horror Movie Is Taking Down Everyone's Favorite Childhood Hero

2 hours ago 3

Buddy standing in the forest while holding an axe in Buddy

Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.

Casper Kelly has stepped into the director's chair for his feature debut, and set his sights on the surreal world of children's television in Buddy. Kelly first broke out with his various collaborations with Adult Swim, particularly co-creating the supernatural workplace comedy Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell and multiple shorts, including the viral sensation Too Many Cooks. He also began branching out into the world of filmmaking with the "Cheddar Goblin" segment in the Nicolas Cage-led Mandy and the "Fun Size" segment in V/H/S/Halloween.

Co-written by Kelly and Jessica Jones alum Jamie King, Buddy is set in a fictional children's television show, in which a group of kids enjoys magical adventures with the eponymous toy unicorn who comes to life when his name is called. However, when the inquisitive Freddy begins noticing unsettling things about the world they're in, and Buddy himself, she and her friends learn the dark truth behind the show.

Kelly has assembled a star-studded roster for Buddy's cast, including Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key voicing the titular antagonist, as well as The Roses' Delaney Quinn as Freddy, The Penguin's Cristin Milioti, The Waterfront's Topher Grace, Patton Oswalt, Michael Shannon and Bennie Taylor, among others. The film is also making its way to the 2026 Sundance Film Festival as part of its Midnight offerings.

In honor of its Sundance premiere, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed Casper Kelly to discuss Buddy. Reflecting on the origin of the R-rated horror-comedy, the co-writer/director began by recalling being a kid and watching the shows that inspired his film, in which he believed the kids lived in the worlds of the shows.

Laughing as he explained his "little brain would overanalyze" everything, he then began pondering such questions as "What happens if the kid doesn't want to do that storyline that day?", while also questioning if any of them slept or "go to the bathroom":

Casper Kelly: It seems so awesome at the beginning, but then my little brain would overanalyze it. I'm like, "Is this a prison? Are they being controlled?" [Laughs] So it kind of came from there.

With the film coming swiftly on the heels of Kelly's V/H/S/Halloween segment, which had a similarly humorous twist on anthropomorphic characters in the form of a murderous humanoid candy, it's fair to wonder how close their creations were. As the director explained, Buddy was the first idea, with Kelly and King having spent two years developing the script and "working with BoulderLight [Pictures] and getting notes" about how to refine it.

Recalling his doubts and how a project can take a while and "never feels real," he and the team then "heard we got financing" and began partnering with Low Spark Films, alongside BoulderLight, to put Buddy together. As he was flown up to Cleveland to location scout and was taken to dinner by the former, Kelly said things were "starting to feel real" as they pulled out a credit card called WorryWell Productions, named after one of the characters in the movie.

However, as Buddy started to take shape, Kelly was simultaneously tapped for his V/H/S/Halloween segment, revealing "they were kind of overlapping" as he went between both sets. The filmmaker had some concerns about how "tight" the time was between the two projects, to which his manager tried to assure "one of these is going to fall through":

Casper Kelly: One was right before the other, literally no separation. I would hop on a plane from one to the other. And, of course, they didn't fall through. [Laughs] And I'm glad they didn't. I wanted to do both. And, in fact, V/H/S/Halloween, I just got a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes trophy, which is downstairs, or else I'd show it to you.

While the movie's unicorn antagonist would point to beloved childhood character Barney being the key inspiration for Buddy, Kelly says he had a full range of influences for depicting the surreal kids' TV world of the film. Describing himself as being "kind of a maximalist" and striving to "throw in as much as they'll let me do," the director also included nods to Pee-wee's Playhouse, Wizard of Oz and Howdy Doody into the mix, and even being slightly inspired by Dora the Explorer after having "watched a lot" of the Nickelodeon cartoon with his kids.

Buddy's World-Building & Potential Sequel Setup Was "Fascinating" For Kelly To Explore

ScreenRant: I did actually want to talk about the sets in this film, because I love just how practical everything is, and amazed by how much you were able to do, in terms of the living backpack and couch, it just felt so authentic. What was it like working with the production designers to really make sure that everything felt authentic to these sort of classic kids TV shows while still having this surreal vibe to them?

Casper Kelly: Yeah, it was Anna Kathleen who did the production design. She really knocked it out of the park, and did so much thinking in terms of even the design on the patches on the mailman's uniform and stuff. In fact, I need to get one of those patches. I need to get those props. They're in a warehouse somewhere. So that was a dream, and I've always been fascinated by studio sets and also ones that are exteriors. They just have a magical feeling of Wizard of Oz, or even the musical Oklahoma, where it's like a wheat field in Oklahoma. It just has a great feeling to me, or Night of the Hunter, another one. And then I've worked with puppets before on Your Pretty Face [is Going to Hell]. You may remember there were puppets in there, and Cheddar Goblin [in Mandy] and then FriendsOfSmarf and Too Many Cooks.

So I never thought of myself [as a puppet lover], I guess I do love puppets. [Chuckles] So here, we worked with Devon [Hawkes] Ludlow to develop them, and Cedwan Hooks, and a bunch of other people, and I learned a lot. We had radio control, so the puppeteer doing the voice could do the mouth off to the side. And a different puppeteer is doing the hand motion, and everything like that. It was just beautiful to watch. I can find out her name, but there was a person who was sort of an assistant intern in that department who wanted to make her first puppet. So, they gave her The Bluebird, which is a character with a small part in the movie, and she really knocked it out of the park. It's just the joy of making things handmade. Chris Brown, who's an Atlanta guy and a friend who did Smarf, came up to Cleveland with us, and he made Couchy, and he made Clocky, and he made the flowers. They just look so good and had such personality. It's so fun to make things handmade and they have that tactile feel.

ScreenRant: Since you mentioned the puppeteers and the voice work, Keegan-Michael Key kills it as Buddy. I'm curious how much you were actually able to have him on set there, or if it was all ADR. Because I know sometimes, with those kinds of characters, there'll be a script supervisor reading out the lines on set versus the actual actor.

Casper Kelly: Yeah, that's a good question. Here, we actually had the puppeteers reading it, and they did a great emotional read. So, Keegan did come in after, but I recorded him in person, and he was amazing, really fun to work with, and we just got along so great. It was interesting, Grant, because you would think that since the mouth is already moving, that you're more limited. And I guess you're right in the sense that you couldn't do Judd Apatow, 20-minute improv things, but the layers he can add in the emotion, like a little bit of passive-aggressiveness, it just added all these new dimensions to it. Keegan really did a great job.

ScreenRant: He really did. And I'd love to hear, too, both from the writing and from then directing Keegan in person, what it was like really ensuring that he wasn't going too far with it to where it felt like he was a true monster, but instead still felt like this misunderstood creature, in a way.

Casper Kelly: Wow, that's an interesting question that really delves into the themes of the movie. I don't know if there are many people like us, but I have a small degree of empathy for that character, as well. I shouldn't even say this, not that I've done anything like that in my life, but I can relate to someone who is trying to uphold an image and f--ks up, and then reacts in the wrong [way], handles it in the worst way. Not that I've done that either, but just to me, it feels relatable. But he's still a bad person, folks, so don't have too much empathy. [Laughs]

ScreenRant: I'd love to hear also about casting Cristin, because so much of Freddy's journey, which Delaney plays so well, is rooted to Cristin as a real emotional anchor in this surreal world.

Casper Kelly: Yeah, that was a big thrill when she was interested. She's told me that she doesn't even particularly like doing horror movies too much, but this had more layers. It had a heart to it, and an emotional underpinning to it that she really responded to. I think horror is becoming more like that, where it's a great auteur medium where you can do all kinds of things. It's just an exciting field and time right now, from Sinners to I Saw the TV Glow are both considered horror, so it's amazing. And you can do original stuff, IP. But Cristin, yeah, she's just so great and so kind. Picking the takes with her was so hard, because they all had such different, interesting things going on. In fact, I really want to do a Blu-ray extra where I have the whole movie again, but just are not allowed to pick the same take. Every shot has to be a different take, but it'd be kind of interesting to see how it feels a little different.

ScreenRant: I think I've come close to time, so a couple quick questions before I let you go. Without diving too far into spoilers, I did happen to notice a mural on a wall that seemed to point to maybe a couple other Buddy-type characters existing out in the world. Is that maybe supposed to be a little Easter egg for possible follow-up?

Casper Kelly: I like the idea of a history that we don't know all of it, or maybe you don't know all of it. Maybe I know some of it, but yeah. I like the world building of it, I won't lie. It's fascinating to me. I like the feeling of that mural. I just love it.

ScreenRant: Very final question for you. I'd love to hear what it's like for you getting to bring this movie to Sundance. That's a big place to get to debut a film, especially one as innovative as this, and as your feature debut.

Casper Kelly: It's a huge thrill. It is nerve-wracking, I won't lie, but I have to just enjoy it. I can't control it now. I just enjoy it. It's the last Sundance in Park City, and the first one without Robert Redford. So, it's a very special Sundance, and I'm really thrilled to get to do it that I somehow am allowed to do this is amazing. And I'm a fan of so many other people that are going. It's a thrill, it's an absolute thrill.

Buddy has not yet been acquired for a wide release.