DISCLAIMER/ TRIGGER WARNING: This movie is rated R for bloody violence, some drug content and language. You cannot see this movie in theaters if you are not 17 years old or older or have an adult present. This is a horror film; do not watch if you are not comfortable with this genre. There are also spoilers to the movie in this article.
The Buddy movie, released on August 28, 2026, has taken theaters by storm with over 1.5 million tickets sold worldwide. It has reached many people’s social media feed with videos talking about the hidden themes and the plot twists. With all the speculation and talk over this film, I needed to see if it was worth the hype.
The movie starts as an old kids television show. It’s a spoof of “Barney & Friends”, with kids singing songs to learn confidence to go to a dance party. One kid, Josh, doesn’t want to participate and Buddy tries to force him to play along. When Josh continues to argue with him, Buddy “removes him” from the show. Later, Freddy finds Josh’s book in the trash with a red stain on it. When she asks Buddy about it, he says that he sent Josh to Diamond City.
This starts the realization for the children that Buddy is not who they think he is. Freddy, the main character, talks to Wade about what she discovered. They go and talk to the nurse and she goes to talk to Buddy. Freddy and Wade watch as Buddy “removes” the nurse and this confirms their fear of him being a killer. All the kids realize they need to escape and they plan to head for Diamond City. This is when Freddy’s love for the inanimate objects in the show. As they are escaping, she grabs Strappy, a backpack, and Mr. Mailbox as they are so important that she risks her safety for them. It is later revealed that Freddy always had a love for small animals in the real world and her need for Mr. Mailbox is steamed from this trait.
Then the movie flashes into real life following a family. The mother, Grace, starts hallucinating that she had another child in her family but doesn’t know who it is. When she hires a psychic, the TV turns on to the Buddy show with him asking for kids to come join him. During the night the show turns on again, and she gets sucked into the show as the new nurse. This demonstrates that every character in the show was taken by Buddy because he needs people to keep running the show. Without characters to love him, he turns into his true monster form and loses control of himself.
Switching back to the kids’ escape plan, they bike their way to Diamond City only to find that the city was only ever a cardboard cut out. Buddy finds them, knowing there was no city, and sings his ending song that starts a new episode and starts everything over again. This makes the kids realize they are locked into the show. When Buddy pushes Freddy into a tree in retaliation for trying to run away, she goes to see the nurse. While she is there, Grace calls her Freddy-Beans, this brings back the memories of their real lives together. Knowing their memories together causes Grace’s sacrifice for the kids when they try to escape through the wishing well. As Freddy’s mother, she puts herself in Buddy’s way and gets killed to give all the kids a chance to escape.
At the bottom of the well they find a room with Buddy’s supposed brother inside, he is locked in the basement because he needs sunlight to function as Buddy needs love to function. At this point in the movie, Oliver is done trying to escape so he surrenders to Buddy and gets eaten. This scene demonstrates the immense amount of mental strain the kids take as they try to escape.
Buddy is a fabulously produced movie. They turned a regular kids show into a nightmare special. You never know what Buddy is going to do next or who’s going to be his next victim. The movie contrasts goofy jokes and one liners with a dark hostage situation where children are trapped. It also doesn’t give those boring jump scares other horror movies give but relies on psychological discomfort to bring fear to the audience.
