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Claude spent the weekend fixing other models’ bad habitsCoyote vs. Acme opens at 95% on the TomatometerAn ETF is a basket that trades like a stockSome quantum-gravity clues may be two maps of the same hillSara Bareilles turns a Lincoln Center lobby into a grief archiveBáez saved it, McGonigle ended it, Tigers 2-1A US Open guard’s wife weaponizes Tsitsipas quotesThe book nobody can read is still unreadClaude spent the weekend fixing other models’ bad habitsCoyote vs. Acme opens at 95% on the TomatometerAn ETF is a basket that trades like a stockSome quantum-gravity clues may be two maps of the same hillSara Bareilles turns a Lincoln Center lobby into a grief archiveBáez saved it, McGonigle ended it, Tigers 2-1A US Open guard’s wife weaponizes Tsitsipas quotesThe book nobody can read is still unread
Four-panel full-color movie comic: a bright kids-show orange unicorn world cracking open, a tomato meter reading 87 percent, an audience popcorn meter reading 78 percent, Keegan-Michael Key as Buddy the unicorn taking a bow under a Buddy marquee.
Four panels: It’s Buddy! cracks, 87% on the meter, 78% in the seats, Key’s unicorn bows under the marquee. · Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Aug. 31, 2026.

Movie Reviews

Buddy opens at 87% on the Tomatometer

What happened

Buddy is in wide release as of Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, from Roadside Attractions and Saban Films, and the Rotten Tomatoes page for the film, checked for this filing, prints an 87% Tomatometer from 101 reviews and a 78% audience score on the Popcornmeter from 500-plus verified ratings. Those are the numbers as the site displays them. The critics consensus, copied exactly as RT prints it, reads: “Buddy weaponizes the cheery conventions of children's entertainment into an inventive, hilarious, and creepy descent into pop culture madness.” The page lists the movie as R, 1 hour 35 minutes, directed by Casper Kelly—the Too Many Cooks name—and headlined by Keegan-Michael Key as Buddy, with Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace, and Michael Shannon in the company.

Rotten Tomatoes’ own framing is the plot lane we are sticking to. The kids’ show world of “It’s Buddy!”—an orange-unicorn paradise of cheery children’s-entertainment conventions—starts to crack, and the picture turns that bright set into the engine of a horror-comedy about pop culture eating itself. That is the descent the consensus sentence is attached to. We are not inventing a score, a review count, or a consensus line. The 87, the 101, the 78, the 500-plus verified, and that exact consensus sentence are what RT is showing on https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/buddy_2026. Runtime 1h 35m, rating R, wide Aug. 28, Roadside/Saban: those are the page facts riding with the meters.

Why it matters

An 87% Tomatometer on a wide-release weekend is the critic half of the conversation, and a 78% Popcornmeter with 500-plus verified ratings is the audience half. Rotten Tomatoes is putting both on the same poster next to a consensus that does specific work: it is not calling Buddy a nostalgic kids rehash. It is saying the movie weaponizes the cheery conventions of children’s entertainment into something inventive, hilarious, and creepy—a descent into pop culture madness. That is the line the site wants quoted, so that is the line this recap quotes. Certified-fresh math is RT’s business. What this desk needs is the printed 87, the printed 78, the printed consensus, and the URL on the page we opened.

Casper Kelly’s Too Many Cooks pedigree is the tonal breadcrumb audiences already know how to read: cheerful children’s-TV grammar pushed until it snaps. Keegan-Michael Key as Buddy puts a recognizable comic face on the orange unicorn; Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace, and Michael Shannon fill out the live-action crack in the kids-show world. We are not adding a box-office estimate the page does not print. We are not grading the unicorn as a mascot seminar. We are filing what Rotten Tomatoes reports: a new R-rated horror-comedy in theaters, a kids show that fractures, and scores of 87% and 78% on the two meters. If you want the critic sentence, RT already wrote it. If you want the audience number, it is 78%.

Conclusion

Rotten Tomatoes has Buddy at 87% Tomatometer (101 reviews) and 78% audience (500+ verified), with a consensus that says the film weaponizes the cheery conventions of children’s entertainment into an inventive, hilarious, and creepy descent into pop culture madness. Casper Kelly directed, Keegan-Michael Key plays Buddy, Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace, and Michael Shannon co-star, the picture is R and 1h 35m, and it opened wide Aug. 28 via Roadside/Saban. The strip is the cracking “It’s Buddy!” set, the 87, the 78, and a unicorn bow under the marquee. Those scores are RT’s, copied as printed, not guessed.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes