KPop Demon Hunters
The Netflix smash, now an Oscar contender, is the animated musical that just keeps on giving.
Huntrix by name…
Image courtesy of Netflix.
by MILLIE RITCHIE
K-pop has been big news in the West for many years now. It’s not hard to see why: the genre is an irresistible blend of highly polished choreography, gobsmacking aesthetics and earworm hooks. It is also notable for the exceptional levels of fan devotion it inspires.
With the Oscar-nominated Kpop Demon Hunters, this concept is taken to another level. In a world where monsters threaten to consume the souls of the living, our titular demon hunters, in the form of a girl group Huntrix, keep them at bay through the adoration of their fans. That is until a particularly crafty demon conspires to bring them down once and for all using his own diabolical boyband, The Saja Boys.
It’s an extremely nutty and rollickingly fun idea, buoyed by a quick and charmingly expressive animation style – a bracing kaleidoscope of Korean art and mythology melded with ultra-modern music video visuals. As such, it moves at a breakneck pace, stuffed with witty sight gags. One particularly funny one involves abs, eyes and corn followed by a cheeky play on the much-memed slow motion fall so beloved by K-dramas.
The heightened drama and energy inherent in the genre of K-pop lends itself well to this high-stakes story and, while the songs are catchy (hitting number one in more than thirty countries) they also effectively work to reflect the themes of overcoming shame and being true to oneself that power the narrative. The all-out action that takes priority towards the end does somewhat lose this depth of emotion in favour of wrapping up a plot filled with (perhaps too many) ideas. However, when the ride has been this much fun, it’s hard to feel anything less than “Golden”.
Voices of Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, Lee Byung-hun.
Dir Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, Pro Michelle Wong, Screenplay Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, Ph Gary H. Le, Pro Des David Bleich and Helen Mingjue Chen, Ed Nathan Schauf, Music Marcelo Zarvos, Sound Michael Babcock, Jeff Sawyer, Chris Diebold and Katie Halliday.
Sony Pictures Animation-Netflix.
99 mins. USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 20 June 2025. Cert. PG.
