Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters is taking the world by storm thanks to its striking visuals and insanely catchy music.
I first learned of this project from Sony Animation Pictures while listening to The Canon Podcast, where host Raf Stitt brought his friend who actually worked on animating this film.
I have family members who had a stint where they were deep into K-Pop, and I kind of can’t wait to watch this with them to pick up on all the references here. K-Pop and K-dramas are steeped in their own tropes and lore that I am not privy to, but that did not stop me from enjoying this film overall.
The film follows Rumi, Mari, and Zoey, a K-Pop girl group whose voices are responsible for strengthening the “honmoon,” basically a shield that keeps demons from entering the human realm. When demons do slip through, the girls trade in their voices for weapons and slice and dice their way through the hordes.
The trio is on the brink of turning the honmoon gold, which would seal off the demon realm for good and defeat the king of the demons, Gwi-Ma. But an enterprising demon named Jinu approaches Gwi-ma with a plan: defeat the demon hunters by capturing the hearts of the fans by forming a demon boy band.
If you’re not sold by now, I don’t know what to tell you. This movie is at its best when operating in the full silliness of its premise, borrowing liberally from its anime and k-drama inspirations. The music is insanely catchy, even if the lyrics don’t quite make sense outside of the context of the movie. It has still rocketed up the music charts.
The crux of the story is that Rumi has a secret: she herself has patterns that mark someone as a demon. It turns out, her father was a demon. She has kept these patterns hidden even from the other two girls and hopes that sealing off the demon realm will free her from these patterns forever.
The weakest part of the movie is its main message, which seems to want to get at this theme of accepting your flaws and insecurities, or the dark parts of yourself. But the fact that the patterns are genetic doesn’t quite jibe with that message.
Still, it is a workable enough plot to keep the fun going as Rumi and Jinu follow the arc of an enemies-to-lovers trope while the girls work to figure out a song to take down the “Saja Boys,” as the demon boy band calls themselves.
It’s an easy watch with beautiful visuals, laughs, and music that will keep you swaying. And the movie has one of the best characters this year in a big blue demon cat that is simultaneously creepy and adorable.
