By Matthew Moorcroft

Solid Recommendation

• Directed by Casper Kelly
• Starring Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswald, Keegan-Michael Key
• R

You remember Too Many Cooks from 12 years ago? You probably should. The viral hit that both sends up classic sitcom intros while devolving into a mix of surreal dark comedy and horrific imagery feels like a precursor to the kind of stories that would begin to dominate the horror scene nearly a decade later. All of that comes from the strange mind of Casper Kelly, an Adult Swim veteran who has used his time on the network to lean into the brand’s stranger, more avant grade productions. Only Kelly can make a compelling television event out of a yule log.

Buddy, his first theatrical feature, feels like a natural extension of his work in that vein. Much of Buddy‘s first third is purposefully left as strange and as difficult to follow as possible, with only the vaguest hints about what’s actually going on sometimes bleeding through the façade of an otherwise generic preschool show from the 90s. Buddy himself, who is brought to life by a wonderfully game Keegan-Michael Key, already exudes a creepy aura but it’s nothing dissimilar to the strange uncanny valley effect one would see when you look at Barney or the Teletubbies. It’s in that middle ground of genuinely playful recreation, disturbing subversion, and surrealistic, pitch black humor that Buddy, in it’s best moments, is so singular an experience you might as well be witnessing the rise of a new auteur in real time.

The premise alone of a kids show gone horribly wrong – like an unearthed “lost” episode that feels written for the creepypasta era – should be enough to sustain a whole feature, and when it focuses on that Buddy‘s excellence really shines through. The fantastic production and costume design leap off the screen with their texture and detailed recreation of this kind of show, and the film’s cinematography rushes from lush and inviting to deeply stark and cold, sometimes within the same sequence. That constant balance between it’s dark subject matter and it’s overwhelming bubble gum pop aesthetic goes from a purposeful contrast to almost feeling made for each other; you’ll never see a marionette puppet the same way again.

Kelly does seem a little bit unsure that it could maintain a whole feature though, as Buddy ultimately pulls back a bit and ends up going for a more traditional structure about halfway through the picture. And while it’s still a solid time, with great supporting turns by Cristin Milioti and Topher Grace as a husband and wife duo who figure out that something is off, Buddy tends to overplay it’s hand a bit in letting the audience figure out what’s going on. The end result is a film that definitely has a bit of first film jitters to it; certainly one that has much to say in the subtext and has style to spare, but one that you can see would also benefit from another round in the script department.

Still, those are minor qualms here, and all of that is made up in just far Buddy is willing to go to get it’s message about the nature of child acting and the meat grinder of the Hollywood pipeline across. It’s a rather cynical piece of art on that metric, and it’s high body count by the end is both refreshing for gore hounds but also indicative of where Kelly probably believes a good chunk of child actors probably end up. The child performances themselves are believable to compensate, with Delaney Quinn in particular being something of a true discovery in how she manages to maintain a level of optimism and real empathy even when things are going completely south.

Those who love Kelly’s prior work will automatically gravitate towards Buddy naturally, even if I’m unsure it will convert anybody not already on the same wave length. For most, I suspect Too Many Cooks will remain his masterpiece until he fully manages to balance the needs of a feature film with his surrealistic, almost plotless style. But as it stands, Buddy is still a fun, nasty time at the movies and proof we need more movies with a mean streak like this.