‘Kpop Demon Hunters' review: Charming and original, with a stand-out soundtrack

The Hindu

19 hours ago

It isn't everyday that you have fictional boy bands and girl groups make their debut on the Billboard Hot 100 music charts. But last week, Huntr/x, the K-pop girl group and Saja Boys, the boy band, both from Netflix's incredibly charming and fun Kpop Demon Hunters, debuted on the charts for their songs 'Golden' and 'My Idol' respectively. Today, Billboard announced that the film's soundtrack was the highest charting soundtrack in 2025 so far, having seen a massive surge in its second week on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Songs from the film are on the top 10 songs on Spotify's global top 50 and recently, RM of BTS, the South-Korean boy band BTS, during a live broadcast was seen humming 'Soda Pop', a song by the Saja Boys. .
Of course, for any film centered on music, the film's soundtrack should pull out all the stops. The superb music in Kpop Demon Hunters is however just one of the many things the film has going for it. It is truly impressive that all this was and is happening alongside the release of the third and final season of Netflix's biggest show yet, Squid Game 3.
This American animated musical-fantasy film follows the lives of the fictional K-pop group Huntr/x, comprising Rumi, Mira and Zoey (Arden Cho, May Hong and Yoo Ji-young voice the characters), who moonlight as demon hunters. They belong to a long legacy of women demon hunters who sing and create a magic barrier, the Honmoon, which seals demons from the earth and prevents them from feeding souls to their demon lord Gwi-Ma (voiced by an excellent Lee Byung-hun). As the girls inch closer to strengthening the barrier to completely seal their world from demons, Gwi-ma enlists a group of demons to execute a devious plan cooked up by Jinu (voiced by Ahn Hyo-seop). Jinu and his group decide to take on Huntr/x as a K-pop boy group, the immensely fun Saja Boys who have a spring in their step and a playlist of hit songs to boot.
For anyone who has revelled in K-pop or even K-Dramas over the last few years, there is much to enjoy in K-pop Demon Hunters. The music is incredibly catchy, especially 'Soda Pop', 'Golden', 'Your Idol', and a terrific version of 'Takedown' by K-pop girl group Twice. Given its central characters, the animated film attempts to give us a peek into the lives of the famous. As K-pop idols, it is not just Rumi, Mira and Zoey's love for song-writing and live performances that we see, but also their secret love for bowls of ramen, an array of snacks and them vegetating on their couches as an escape from the constant spotlight. Competition is a very real thing and the girls slowly but surely begin to feel threatened when the Saja Boys burst onto the scene. While the girls are already leading a double life, and trying their best to keep up their perfect public personas, Rumi wrestles with a bigger secret, and the shame that comes with it.
If the catchy music and numerous nods to K-drama tropes make the film seem warm and familiar, there is a lot of nuance that non-Korean viewers like me have discovered thanks to deep dives about the film that have followed its release. Directed by Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang, the film has been lauded for its representation of Korean culture which includes everything from the art on the stage backdrop when Huntr/x performs, to the many mythological references central to the film.
Kpop Demon Hunters (English)
Directors: Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans
Cast: Arden Cho, May Hong, Yoo Ji-young, Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Byung-hun
Runtime: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Storyline: A demon-fighting girl group face new challenges when they take on a new rival K-pop group
It helps that the animation is truly stunning. Produced by Sony Pictures, the visuals bring alive Seoul's Namsan Tower and the Bukchon Hanok Village. The devil, or the demons here are truly in the details — I couldn't help but notice how Rumi, Mira and Zoey have distinctly different looks for when they have their makeup on while on stage, and offstage when they are writing songs while clothed in comfortable sweats. Both the action-set pieces and the dance sequences are especially slick. The Saja Boys too are each crafted to embody a fan favourite idol type: there's an 'abs' Saja of course, but also a 'Romance' Saja and a 'Baby' Saja. Here's to also hoping the derpy tiger and his magpie buddy are getting a spin-off, since we would love an origin story.
Maggie Kang's story ensures that Kpop Demon Hunters is far from a simple coming-of-age/romance tale. Of course, there is a potential romance hinted at and a strong ship that almost sails, but the film trains its focus on the themes of identity and sisterhood, which feels far more rewarding given the set-up. There is so much that is intriguing about this universe and it makes you wonder if this would have worked better as a TV show with a lot more runtime. For now, a sequel to the film, perhaps? It truly feels like we haven't had our fill of 'Soda Pop' yet.
K-pop Demon Hunters is currently streaming on Netflix