Film Review: KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters
Director: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
Sony Picture Animation
Netflix: 06.20.2025

KPop Demon Hunters definitely isn’t a movie for everyone. The truth is that this movie is for the people who grew up on shows like Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew, Totally Spies and Winx Club, and can name more K-pop groups than BTS. If anything, this movie is a celebration of K-pop and animation, while also playfully calling out some of the unhinged behaviors the fans of that media are known for. It is a fun, glittery, action-packed, candy-colored romp and one of the best animated musicals to come out in recent years. Disney should take notes. 

The story follows the K-pop girl group HUNTR/X, consisting of main dancer Mira (May Hong, Broad City, Hacks), rapper and lyricist Zoey (Ji-young Yoo, Moxie, Freaky Tales) and lead singer Rumi (Arden Cho, Teen Wolf, Partner Track) as they balance their popstar life with hunting demons. Their goal is to strengthen the barrier between the human world and the demon world known as the Honmoon, to finally banish all demons and their leader, Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun, Squid Games, I Saw the Devil). A wrench is thrown into their plans when one demon, Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop, Business Proposal), comes up with the idea of forming a demon boy band, the Saja Boys, to gather more souls and weaken the Honmoon. All this while Rumi tries to keep her demon-half a secret from her friends makes for a fun anime storyline. 

KPop Demon Hunters is Kang’s directorial debut and her passion project. The film spent nine years in development, and the finished product definitely shows all that time and effort. The character designs are striking and memorable and each character has a unique and charming personality, while the lore and world-building are strong and capture the imagination. You also can’t talk about an animated film without mentioning the visuals. Made by the same studio that created the unique look of the Spider-Verse films, KPop Demon Hunters also creates its own distinct aesthetic. Similar to Pixar’s Turning Red, KPop Demon Hunters integrates anime-esque facial expressions and 2-D visual quirks, while also lowering the frame rate in certain parts of the film to emphasize dramatic moments. The backgrounds shift seamlessly from bright and poppy cityscapes to dark and intense battles, evoking the colorfully saturated looks of K-pop music videos.

With a name like KPop Demon Hunters, it is imperative that the film’s music actually delivers, and it’s safe to say that it did. The songs aren’t just homages to K-pop; they are K-pop. Taking inspiration from groups like Monsta X, Stray Kids and Blackpink, and even having members from Twice perform on the soundtrack, the songs are a love letter to K-pop. Obvious highlights include “Golden” and “Your Idol.” Full of energy and infectious melodies, at least one of these tracks is guaranteed to stick in your head –– no matter how much you fight it.

Despite my many praises of the film, it is far from perfect. At only 96 minutes of runtime, this film leaves you feeling like it’s only scratched the surface of both the world and characters. In some ways this is a testament to the enticing world building and likable characters, because the audience wants to know more and spend more time with this story and characters. On the other hand, it also shows just how many ideas were here that were ultimately left underdeveloped. While I enjoy the songs, there is not a hint of subtlety to them — or the rest of the film, if I’m honest. Although, can you really expect subtlety with a title like KPop Demon Hunters? At the end of the day, it knows what it is and it clearly has no shame in that, and for that I have to applaud it.    

Even with Netflix’s varying degrees of quality in its shows and movies, especially with its animated content, some gems do manage to come out. Last year, it was the reboot film of the classic super-sentai series Ultraman: Rising and their League of Legends animated series Arcane, this year we have a nostalgic look back to the magical girl shows of old, with references to K-dramas and other pieces of Korean culture. Even if KPop Demon Hunters isn’t your cup of tea, there is no denying that this came from a place of passion and will inspire an even more passionate fandom. —Angela Garcia

Read more film reviews here:
Film Review: Elio
Film Review: How To Train Your Dragon