Buddy does an excellent job of capturing a moment in time, encapsulating it and twisting it up. It takes all the unreasonable fears of your childhood, wraps them up, and delivers them to your adult self in a way that truly shakes you.
Written by Paige Irwin
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Profoundly disturbing and deeply unsettling, there is no other way to begin a description of this film. Buddy taps into childhood fears and scares you in a way that hasn’t since the days of sitting on the stairs to get a secret glimpse of the horror movie your older siblings were watching past your bedtime. It’s clear that I wasn’t the only one having nightmares about Barney as a child, and Buddy bears an absolutely striking resemblance to the television shows of the 90s and early 2000s — which were more often than not slightly haunting and disconcerting in a way that was hard to articulate as a child.
Twelve years after the legendary Too Many Cooks (2014) premiered at 4 a.m on Adult Swim, it seems Casper Kelly has locked down the formula.
Without a doubt, the strongest element in Buddy is the expertly crafted immersive world. Every element of the film works seamlessly together to bring the viewer back into a state of childhood fear, and it is absolutely terrifying. It is all so familiar; Buddy feels like late nights falling asleep in front of the TV, waking up only half conscious and being frozen watching something that shakes you to the core. The set is designed in such a way that it feels as if you can touch it; you could reach through the television screen and jump into your own episode of Buddy.
This could have easily been a nostalgia bait film, a weaker attempt to ease the general public's constant fixation on the 90s and 2000s. However, Buddy doesn’t feel like a replication of any of the media it is inspired by, but genuinely a text that would have existed during this period. Again, this is possible through the depth of detail that exists on the screen. Grainy film and pastel colours illuminating the superior costuming and character design, catchy songs that nestle into your brain and don’t let go, too big smiles, and a looming sense of terror. Though this is the greatest strength of the film, it also causes a few awkward moments.
When we leave Buddy’s world and enter our reality, it is jarring and uncomfortable. The dialogue suddenly feels clunky and even corny at times; it does not feel different enough from the over-scripted dialogue on Buddy, so it actually feels even more strange since that way of speaking is so out of place in reality. In addition to dialogue that removes you from the constructed mania, the plot composition and execution are rather lacking. As soon as the real-world characters enter the story, any viewer can easily guess exactly what is about to happen next. Until one bizarre sequence about midway through the film, where you could not possibly guess what is going to happen next. This demonstrates Buddy’s biggest flaw, a lack of balance. A film set between two worlds needs both to remain of interest, and in this element Buddy does not deliver.
Though it has its flaws, overall the movie provides a fantastic viewing experience; it is a film I would watch again and again on a late night of delirium. It does an excellent job of capturing a moment in time, encapsulating it and twisting it up. It takes all the unreasonable fears of your childhood — the nightmares and staying up late to tell scary stories about your favourite toys turned into killers — wraps them up and delivers them to your adult self in a way that truly shakes you.
Buddy is now playing in theatres.
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