Imagine watching Barney & Friends while growing up, except instead of Barney being a loving character, he’s a deranged, murderous psychopath; that’s exactly what Casper Kelly’s 2026 horror film Buddy is about. This is probably one of the most unique horror films of the year, standing toe-to-toe with other standout horror films of 2026 like Obsession and Backrooms.
This film is centered around Buddy, an anthropomorphic unicorn TV show host reminiscent of Barney & Friends and Blue’s Clues. It’s a story where kids are getting sucked into and trapped inside this TV show, where they’re forced to play along. Buddy feeds off their presence and love, and if they don’t comply, the kids end up facing consequences. There’s also a parallel plot where Grace is looking for her missing child, who she has no recollection or memory of.
Casper Kelly’s philosophy for this film was to explore how these child mascots act outside of their sets, and he does so beautifully throughout hidden themes and meanings. Kelly touches on themes of s*xual abuse, insanity, conformity, and child abuse to reflect the unseen dark nature behind some of these mascots, while also scratching that itch a lot of people have when it comes to taking childhood mascots and making them evil.
As you watch this film, you learn that there are rules within this universe, and the kids are forced to abide by certain rules in order to survive. For example, the kids saying “I love you, Buddy” keeps Buddy grounded, but later, when they say the opposite, it triggers a more demonic and destructive version of Buddy. It’s almost as if Buddy feeds off of the children’s love. The entire show also resets every time the kids hug Buddy and sing the “I Love You, Buddy” song.
This film definitely isn’t for everyone just because of how weird, unhinged, gory, and bizarre it is. Leaving the film, you feel like you want more, and they definitely set it up in a way where there could be more lore and an entire universe built around this story and this world of kids being stuck inside a TV show, with their energy being harvested for some unknown cause.