Buddy, the nightmarish horror-comedy from writer/director Casper Kelly, was shown to a limited audience at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026 ahead of its theatrical release. Co-written by Kelly and Jamie King, the film is set in 1999 and follows a group of kids trapped inside a sinister children's show called It's Buddy!, hosted by an insane, orange unicorn voiced by Keegan-Michael Key. In many ways, it's a creative twist on what if Barney & Friends had trapped its kid stars and the famous purple dinosaur was incredibly bad at taking no for an answer.
When the first true sinister act in Buddy occurs, the rest of the kids rebel against Buddy and are sent on a dangerous quest, while in the real world, a traumatized suburban mother named Grace (Cristin Milioti) finds her way into the movie's (and the in-universe TV show's) plot. The film also features performances from Topher Grace, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt, and is scheduled to hit theaters on August 28.
After catching the screening, The Direct spoke with three of the film's key voices: lead puppeteer Devon Hawkes Ludlow, Kelly himself, and Delaney Quinn, the young actress who plays Freddy, one of the kids trapped inside Buddy's twisted television world.
Across all three conversations, one thread kept surfacing: Buddy only works if its title orange unicorn feels dangerous and lovable at the same time. Ludlow didn't sugarcoat just how difficult it was to pull off practically, explaining that the puppeteering was "extraordinarily complicated."
Kelly revealed that even Buddy's eyes needed a last-minute fix because, in his words, "[They've] got to be sweet," not "scary" or "crazy." And Quinn described just how real the film's scares felt from her side of the camera, recalling being "super duper scared" during one particularly chaotic take.
Perfecting the Buddy Design
"I Wanted Him to Look Sweet..."
- The Direct: "When it came to finishing Buddy's design, what were the final touches that made him feel complete?"
Casper Kelly: I think it was the eyes. They did a great job on the design, but they made the eyes crazy and a little scary, and I was like, 'It can't be like that, it's got to be sweet.' It was already built, so we had to get black tape and cut circles and put it over the eyes to get the feeling that I wanted. Because yeah, I wanted him to look sweet.
- The Direct: "Watching the movie, I wasn't sure at first if it was only going to be the kids' show, and then it wasn't. What was the directing shift that made the movie feel jarring in a good way, while still keeping the audience engaged?"
Kelly: I just love to do that. I love to shift tones and mix things up, to keep it fresh. And I love 'Wizard of Oz,' and I love movies that have paintings, it's shot inside, but it's made to look like it's outside with a sunset or something. I just love those looks, so I was excited to tackle that.
Buddy's Greatest Inspirations
"Wizard of Oz, which I consider a movie for everyone."
- The Direct: "Beyond kids' shows like Barney, what were some of your other big inspirations for this movie?"
Casper Kelly: There's a little nod to 'Night of the Hunter,' and definitely 'Wizard of Oz,' which I consider a movie for everyone. I love that it's my favorite movie. And oh boy, a little bit of 'The Shining,' a little bit of 'The Shining' in there.
- The Direct: "Was it easier or harder to direct the kids or the puppets?"
Kelly: It was a joy to work with the puppets and the kids. I'd say the puppets were a little harder, because there are just so many variables, the strings, not being able to see, getting too hot. So yeah, the puppets were probably a little trickier, but they were great, and it paid off.
Staying Calm on Set With a Killer Unicorn
"I Was Really, Really Scared..."
- The Direct: "You really gave the movie its heart. Were you ever actually scared on set, even knowing it's all make-believe?"
Delaney Quinn: Yes. I think there were only two instances of that... so I'm going to go with the story that's the shortest.
There's this part where Buddy slams his horn through a fence, and I was supposed to fall over the fence, and then get up and jump back. But I was really, really scared, because they rehearsed that scene with my stand-in, and I didn't fully see the scene like I envisioned it in my head.
And his horn slams through the fence, and I'm super duper scared, because I'm this far away from it, but I'm really scared so I run back, and I jump back, and I actually scream, and then I slam into this tree, and it's a fake tree, so it starts tipping over when I lean on it, and I'm like, 'Did I just ruin the set?'
- The Direct: "On set, acting alongside puppets and other kid actors, do you have a favorite memory?"
Quinn: My favorite memory is probably doing all of the dances, because I really liked learning them, and they were really fun. But I really wish I had started dancing before, because I started taking dance lessons after we filmed the movie, and I wish I'd started before it so that I wasn't so bad I was looking at the other kids the entire time.
An Imaginary World of Puppets
"They're Always Getting Tangled..."
- The Direct: "Which puppet was your favorite to perform in the movie?"
Devon Hawkes Ludlow: That's probably Strappy. Strappy has the most life. He has the most visceral way of being. He's supposed to be a hand puppet, so you can get the most expression out of him. He also had the most insane voice, which you'll hear Patton Oswalt do, and he's got the most emotional connection.
He's the only really kind puppet that supports the kids; the rest are either witnesses trying to pretend they haven't seen it, or they're menaces themselves. So he was easily the most fun that way, because anything else was a great death scene.
- The Direct: "And which puppet was the most complicated to work?"
Ludlow: It's a marionette, so you saw the marionette and how crazy he is. And to get into the practicals a little bit, depending on the size of the shot, you have to adjust the size of the strings.
They're always getting tangled, and they're always chaotic. So he's the most difficult by far. And when he [SPOILERS], the whole crew cheered.
A few weeks after SDCC, The Direct also had the chance to conduct a secondary interview with Kelly, which went deeper on Buddy's creative DNA, its cast, and what might come next.
Making Buddy's Genre-Blending Soup
"I'm Just Throwing in as Many Ingredients as Possible..."
- The Direct: "You said Buddy felt more like a comedy than a horror movie to you. Was that the intent going in, and how do you think audiences will react when it opens in theaters?"
Casper Kelly: My intent was really a mix of comedy, horror, a little bit of just straight up drama, and an emotional through line, I would want people to be moved as well.
So I kind of think of it as a soup, where I'm just throwing in as many ingredients that should or should not go together as possible.
- The Direct: "You also made the short film Too Many Cooks, and there's a lot of shared DNA between that and Buddy. Was that part of your pitch going in?"
Kelly: To an extent, but I think more so it's just how I'm wired. The things I work on come out with some of those elements. I learned that P.T. Anderson, when he did that movie Punch-Drunk Love, was trying to do an Adam Sandler comedy.
If you think about it, he works as a toilet plunger salesman, and so on, but it has components of an Adam Sandler comedy. What it really is, is a P.T. Anderson movie. So I think I just have a style that I'm probably strapped to.
The Door's Open for A Buddy 2
"I Feel Like a Kid in a Candy Store..."
- The Direct: "Is there anything you'd love to explore in the same style down the line? There's an open ending here that could continue with these characters."
Kelly: Yeah, I would love to do that. Part of writing it is you develop the underpinning, the rules, and the lore that doesn't all get into the movie, because you want the movie to have mystery.
So absolutely, and I have other ideas about other aspects of our culture that I want to do my spin on. I feel like a kid in a candy store. There's just a lot of things I want to do.
