Early festival screenings at Sundance established strong critic momentum for "Buddy," the Casper Kelly-directed horror-comedy that twists 1990s children's TV nostalgia into psychological menace, with praise centering on its unsettling tone, Keegan-Michael Key's lead performance, and Cristin Milioti's supporting turn. As of mid-August, the Tomatometer sits in the low-to-mid 80s based on roughly three dozen reviews, reflecting broad agreement on its inventive premise and genre balance ahead of the August 28 wide release. Additional critic notices could still shift the final score, though the current consensus suggests limited room for major downside unless late reviews diverge sharply from the established narrative. Traders should monitor any new aggregator updates or guild-adjacent critic mentions in the final pre-release window.