KPop Demon Hunters

This animated fantasy movie may sound even more ridiculous than Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but like that classic TV show, behind the title is a smart, inventive and thoroughly enjoyable story.  Skewing young enough to be great family entertainment, there’s also more than enough to keep adult viewers engaged, and the songs are genuine bangers.

Premise:  In each generation, three women have been secretly destined to protect the world from demons, not only by fighting any demons that make their way to the human world, but also by using their singing voices to maintain the magical barrier that seals the demon realm away.  In this generation, the trio of Rumi, Mira and Zoey perform publicly as the KPop girl group Huntr/x and are on the verge of sealing the demons away forever … until a rival boy band and a long buried secret threaten to tear everything apart.

Review:

All too often, original animated movies released on Netflix have been largely overlooked – The Mitchells vs. The Machines was a masterpiece that never quite got the mainstream attention that it deserved in 2022, while the inventive Nimona came and went with no fanfare at all in 2023.  Which is why it’s all the more satisfying that KPop Demon Hunters – a film with no brand recognition and no big-name stars – has unexpectedly become the most-watched original title in Netflix history.  Not only that, but the soundtrack for this animated musical has experienced unprecedented worldwide success, even becoming the first movie soundtrack to have four of its songs in the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The title may be intentionally ridiculous, but like the not-entirely-dissimilar Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, it’s a lure to draw viewers in to what is a surprisingly smart and witty original story.  Don’t be put off by the subject matter – the first 10 minutes of the film will tell you everything you need to know about the mythology behind the storyline, so that by the time the first action scene kicks off, you’re ready to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

“…a beautifully stylised blend of anime & Western animation styles…”

The film is family friendly, and even the demons themselves are presented vaguely comically, but don’t let that put you off.  While younger children will enjoy the action (which is very well choreographed), the animation (which is a beautifully stylised blend of anime and Western animation styles) and the comedy (the dialogue between the characters is sharply written with plenty of amusing lines) – it’s in the character arcs and overarching themes that older children and adults will find additional layers to the storytelling.  Without getting into plot specifics, the film touches on themes like guilt, prejudice, repression, shame and intolerance, and the demon king’s power is cleverly shown to be centred around his ability to whisper secret insecurities into people’s ears, rather than he simply being a 50 foot monster.

Just as one of the greatest things about Moana was that it felt like it genuinely wanted to honour Polynesian mythology, one of the things that shines through in KPop Demon Hunters is the filmmakers’ desire to pay tribute to Korean mythology and culture.  I can’t speak to its success in this regard (having never been to Korea), but it certainly felt unlike anything I’d seen before, to the extent that I was actually surprised to learn that this was an American film and not a Korean one.

“…a film that the whole family can enjoy…”

If you really wanted to nitpick, there are a few plot points that feel a little predictable, and because the film’s main focus is on Rumi, we don’t get quite as much character depth for her bandmates, Mira and Zoey.  But these are minor quibbles, and it’s fair to say that KPop Demon Hunters can already be considered a cultural phenomenon given the success it’s experienced this summer on Netflix, in the cinemas (where a special ‘sing-along’ version received a limited release) and in the music charts – but more than that, it’s also just a genuinely good film that the whole family can enjoy.  Just be prepared to be humming the songs around your home for days afterwards…