So, Netflix just dropped one of my favorite movies of the year, and it’s about a K-pop girl group who kills demons—and all the insanity that entails.
In K-Pop Demon Hunters, demons are real and use tears in the Honmoon—the protective barrier between our world and the demon realm—to sneak in and steal souls to feed their master, Gwi-Ma (Byung Hun Lee). Standing in their way are powerful demon hunters, who use their voices to strengthen the Honmoon and have been doing so as musical groups going back generations.
The newest hunters are Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, known collectively to the world as K-Pop wunderkind Huntrix. While not writing and performing their next chart-topping hit, they protect us from demons who fall through the cracks. But when Gwi-Ma hatches a plan to destroy the Honmoon and invade Earth, even Huntrix can’t believe that plan involves a demon K-Pop band!
Sony Pictures Animation brought the same energy from their Across the Spider-Verse movies to K-Pop Demon Hunters. The colors are vivid, the designs imaginative, and the action satisfyingly frenetic. It's like watching an actual K-pop MV—but with more sword-wielding and demon-slaying.
Speaking of MVs, the music of K-Pop Demon Hunters is a star in its own right. Tracks like “Takedown,” “Golden,” and “How It’s Done” aren’t just cheesy novelty songs from a movie—they’re actual K-pop bops that would top the global music charts if given airtime. Not surprising, given the movie’s songwriters and producers read like a who’s who of the Korean music industry: Lindgren, Danny Chung, and Teddy Park, among others.
It also helps that the characters are fun, relatable, and overwhelmingly charming. Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young Yoo lend their voices to these hella cute girls with aplomb, and you’re compelled to root for them just as I would my favorite K-pop groups.
This isn’t just a movie about K-pop; it’s a crash course on K-pop “stan” culture. Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans reverently recreate the allure and mania that surrounds K-pop in Korea, so if you don’t know your bias from your maknae, K-Pop Demon Hunters surprisingly gets it right.
I love the insane synergy here, from the brightly colored animation that moves to the rhythm of the songs, to the hilarious physical comedy. It’s a sensory overload in a good way. Oh, if only more animated films were this much fun!
K-Pop Demon Hunters is, simply put, irresistible. I’m as obsessed with this as the K-pop stans that live and breathe their corner of fandom. Highly recommended!
K-Pop Demon Hunters is now streaming on Netflix.
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