By Armando

Remember the kids’ shows you grew up with? The big friendly costume, the bright colors, the songs, Buddy takes all of that and turns it inside out. It’s strange, bumpy in spots, and it left me uneasy, but I mean that as a compliment. Maybe.

Buddy comes from Casper Kelly, the mind behind the cult Adult Swim short Too Many Cooks. It’s set inside It’s Buddy!, a 90s-style kids show hosted by Buddy, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, he is a bright orange unicorn who leads a group of children through songs and life lessons.

Then one kid refuses to join a dance party and disappears. Freddy (Delaney Quinn) starts asking questions, and the kids realize that they can’t remember their lives before the show. Meanwhile, in the real world, a mom named Grace (Cristin Milioti) can’t shake the feeling that something is missing from her family.

This is an original story. It’s not a remake, a sequel or part of some giant franchise. I’ll always root for that, even when the result isn’t perfect.

And Buddy isn’t perfect. The tone jumps from goofy kids’ show bits to brutal horror to a strange side trip with an old cowboy and his foul-mouthed puppet. Some scenes hit, some drag. I kind of liked the bumpiness, since it adds to the feeling of being stuck somewhere that isn’t quite right. But I get why plenty of people will find it off-putting.

The performances are excellent across the board. Quinn carries the film as Freddy, and Key nails that sing-song kids’ host voice before letting the anger creep in. Milioti, Michael Shannon, Topher Grace and Patton Oswalt are all in on the weirdness.

The production looks just like a real ’90s children’s show, with cheap-looking sets, flat lighting and sing-along songs.

Kelly has said the film grew from a childhood belief that TV kids lived inside their shows. That idea never fully came across for me. We never see how the kids got there or who they were before, so I didn’t care about them as much as I wanted to. The ending only hints at the bigger idea, kids swallowed up by what they watch, and leaves you uneasy, which feels like the point.

Still, it stuck with me. Buddy is weird, bumpy, unevent and bold. If you love strange movies that take big swings, give it a shot.