KPop Demon Hunters
★★★ 1/2
I did it. I caved. After weeks (months?) of hearing the soundtrack blasted in the car and recognizing way too many lyrics for a movie I hadn’t even seen, a snow day felt like the perfect excuse to finally give in to my girls’ never-ending requests to watch one of Netflix’s most popular animated films.
And honestly? I get it.
You know a movie has truly hit the zeitgeist when you realize you already know most of the songs before the opening credits roll, thanks to radio play and a Spotify algorithm completely hijacked by your kids. The music is undeniably catchy, polished and doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Without it, KPop Demon Hunters probably doesn’t land the same way. With it? It absolutely works.
The animation is another big win. It’s vibrant, colorful and confidently stylized, blending anime influences with a more traditional, Western animated sensibility. I’ll be the first to admit that anime, in general, isn’t really my thing (I know, film-community sin), but this movie feels like a friendly gateway rather than something impenetrable. It’s approachable without losing its identity.
The premise is wonderfully absurd in the best way: a wildly popular K-pop girl group just also happens to fight demons on the side. When a rival five-member boy band literally rises from the underworld to win over the public (demons disguised as heartthrobs with killer hooks) the stakes become both global and deeply personal. Save the world… but also don’t fall for the bad boys.
What surprised me most was that the film actually slows down enough to give one of the girls real emotional weight (Rumi, in particular). That added depth keeps the story from feeling like a nonstop music video and gives it something resembling a heart beneath the glitter and demon lore.
And yes, it’s funny. I genuinely laughed out loud a few times, which I wasn’t expecting. The humor is sharp enough to keep adults engaged without winking too hard at the camera.
All that said, KPop Demon Hunters isn’t something I see myself revisiting. For me, it doesn’t have the staying power of a Toy Story or even a Frozen — films that transcended their moment and became cultural touchstones across generations. That might just be me showing my age, though. For my kids, this feels like their movie, and I have no doubt it’ll be rewatched many times… and almost certainly spawn sequels.
The real challenge for those sequels will be topping the music. Catchy songs are the secret sauce here, and lightning doesn’t always strike twice.
So to all my friends who’ve been pestering me to watch this: I’ve seen it. I understand the hype. And I wouldn’t be shocked if it ends up taking home Best Animated Feature, especially in a year without a ton of stiff competition.
Consider me pleasantly surprised and officially indoctrinated, at least once.
