An upcoming twisted horror comedy from the maker of Too Many Cooks has found its distributors. Roadside Attractions and Saban Entertainment have officially announced that they are working in association to release Buddy this Labor Day on September 4.
Casper Kelly’s film is about a children’s show that takes an aggressively violent plunge and stars Emmy Award winner Cristin Milioti (The Penguin, How I Met Your Mother, Palm Springs), Delaney Quinn (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Topher Grace (That ’70s Show, BlacKkKlansman), Emmy Award winner Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, The Super Mario Bros. Movie), Two-time Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water, Man of Steel), and Emmy and Grammy Award winner Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille, The King of Queens).
Roadside Attraction Co-Presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff stated, “BUDDY was everyone’s favorite movie at Sundance because we watched in horror as the familiar became the deranged and comfort food turned to poison. Theatrical audiences are in for a major treat.” Meanwhile, Jonathan Saban and Shanan Becker, co-Presidents of Saban Films, added, “Casper Kelly is one of the most wildly inventive and audacious filmmakers working today, and BUDDY is a testament to his singular genius. He possesses a rare aptitude for taking the wholesome nostalgia of our childhoods and flipping it into a brilliantly unhinged, laugh-out-loud nightmare. We are absolutely thrilled to partner with Roadside to bring Casper’s uniquely twisted vision to audiences nationwide.”
Our Chris Bumbray got to see the movie while at Sundance and gave it a lukewarm reception. He said in his 6/10 review that “one has to admire the creativity behind the film, with Kelly crafting a demented satire of children’s TV programming. Keegan Michael-Key is terrific as Buddy, sounding like a dead-on accurate evil cousin to Barney, while Quinn is a likable child heroine. There are also some nifty cameos, including Clint Howard, and a voice role for none other than Michael Shannon.
While it’s inconsistent, Buddy is worth watching, even if only for its absolutely brilliant first act. While it doesn’t quite work as a film and likely won’t be much more than adult curiosity, I imagine a lot of folks who grew up in the nineties will have a lot of fun with it.”