Buddy (2026)

A living backpack voiced by Patton Oswalt is the most trustworthy adult in Buddy. Casper Kelly builds a fake 1990s kids’ show, sing-alongs and a beaming magical unicorn host included, then lets the smile curdle when a boy named Josh skips the dance party and vanishes. Buddy insists Josh just moved to a perfect place called Diamond City. Freddy, one of the kids on the show, isn’t buying it. The whole film runs on one joke, cheerful things are secretly terrifying, and the final act stretches it thin. Keegan-Michael Key voices Buddy with a sunny menace that never cracks, and Clint Howard and Michael Shannon turn up as a cowboy and his cranky puppet from an older version of the show. It’s rated R, so not for kids. It made $27 million worldwide on a reported $3M. A 6.7 because it’s clever and creepy until it runs out of songs. $871 says a kids’ show theme gets stuck in your head this week and you check behind the couch before humming it.

What works: The fake kids’ show is detailed and funny, and Keegan-Michael Key makes Buddy’s cheerful menace genuinely unsettling.

What doesn’t: It’s one joke stretched to feature length, and the real-world storyline with Grace feels thin next to the show itself.

Who it’s for: Grown-ups raised on 1990s kids’ TV who want to see those sing-alongs turned into a horror comedy.