A shocking new horror release centered on a deranged children’s mascot is said to have left some parents furious after they apparently brought their kids to screenings by mistake.
Titled Buddy, the film takes loose inspiration from the beloved children’s series Barney and follows a group of youngsters who find themselves trapped inside a 1990s-style kids’ TV program hosted by a giant orange unicorn.
The brightly colored host, however, is far from harmless. As the pre-teens soon learn, Buddy is a sinister creature who abducts and kills children, forcing the group into a desperate fight to escape before they become his next targets.
Adding to the confusion, the official poster for the surreal horror-comedy features little more than the smiling orange unicorn staring out from a fuzzy, static-filled television screen, offering few clues about the movie’s darker tone.
According to accounts circulating on social media and Reddit, some parents have allegedly taken children to the R-rated film after assuming it was a kid-friendly movie.
“Saw a lot of kids in my auditorium last night, some younger than 8,” one theater employee claimed in a Reddit post.
Parents have reportedly brought young children to Buddy, a disturbing horror film about a cuddly orange unicorn who abducts and murders kids
Loosely inspired by Barney, Buddy centers on children trapped inside a 1990s-style television show hosted by a murderous unicorn
‘There were so many kids in my showing for buddy. What the heck is that about!’ added a second.
A third employee wrote, ‘I saw a mom complain that it was the theater’s fault when it definitely wasn’t. Parents should do their research.’
‘It’s amazing how many people will take their kids to movies without doing an ounce of research beforehand,’ wrote another.
‘Buddy is not Five Nights at Freddy’s – your kids aren’t making friends with the scary unicorn,’ added another.
Despite the controversy and its relatively low budget, Buddy is shaping up to be 2026’s next big horror hit.
The film opened with $5.36 million last weekend, more than doubling its early box office projections.
‘It takes a big risk, and we felt like that risk might be exactly what makes the movie work,’ Roadside Attractions head and co-founder Howard Cohen told IndieWire.
‘It was specifically the risk of content, its extreme originality, provocative structure, and themes.’
‘Saw a lot of kids in my auditorium last night, some younger than 8,’ one theatre employee wrote on Reddit
Buddy has already earned rave reviews from critics, although some have been disturbed and confused by the surrealist horror film
Buddy is spotted wielding an axe with writer and director Casper Kelly at a screening in Los Angeles
Buddy is now set to open in even more theatres this weekend to capitalize on its unexpected performance at the box office.
It stars Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace, and Keegan-Michael Key as the voice of Buddy, and was written and directed by Casper Kelly.
It’s already received strong reviews from critics, with the New York Post writing, ‘A horror-comedy that takes a scalpel—or, more accurately, several weapons—to its jaunty protagonist, all while reveling in his darkly disturbed spirit.’
IndieWire wrote, ‘It gets harder and harder to find something that feels fresh enough to be truly shocking and executed competently enough to transcend its gimmicks, and we should all celebrate when we find one.’
Buddy is the latest in a growing number of surprise horror hits at the box office this year.
Curry Barker’s Obsession is the biggest of the bunch, scaring up a jaw-dropping $505 million off a $1 million budget.
Backrooms was another smash, raking in $395 million.
Other horror hits include Scream 7, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, Insidious: Out of the Further, and Send Help.
