Buddies is a 1985 American drama film. It is the first film to deal with the AIDS pandemic, preceding the television movie An Early Frost (also released in 1985). Directed by Arthur J. Bressan Jr., who would die of complications from AIDS two years after the film was released, the film follows a New York City gay man in a monogamous relationship becoming a "buddy" or a volunteer friend to another gay man dying of AIDS and the friendship that develops.