Gonna Be Golden: "K-Pop Demon Hunters" Review

The Sony Animation original movie “K-Pop Demon Hunters” debuted on Netflix on June 20, 2025, and within days was already a global hit.

The movie stars three k-pop stars–Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, otherwise known to the world as HUNTR/X–who secretly fight off demons with the power of their music and, when necessary, the magical weapons they wield. Their goal is to seal the Honmoon, which is a magic shield preventing demons from entering the human world. What they don’t know is that Rumi herself is actually a half-demon, symbolized by purple lines on her body known as demon patterns. This is where most of the plot forms.

The film follows Rumi, who hides her demon half from her friends, struggling to keep it hidden in the middle of a crisis – the crisis being that five demons have entered the human world and formed a boy band known as the Saja Boys, which becomes a battle for the fans.

The visuals are reminiscent of the style used in the hit “Spiderverse” movies. Most of the characters are animated on 2’s (12 frames per second) or 3’s (8 frames per second), which makes the animation look choppy, though the demons (specifically, the Saja Boys) are animated on 1’s (24 frames per second), giving them more fluid movement. The effect causes the demons to stand out a bit against the crowd.

The plot itself feels a little rushed from start to end – while we get a lot of character backstory and development for Rumi and Jinu, we don’t get much of that for Mira, Zoey, or any of the other Saja Boys. Some believe this is because the movie was originally supposed to be three hours long, though this theory is not yet confirmed.

Nonetheless, the film and its soundtrack are breaking records left and right.

The film has already become Netflix’s most watched movie ever, holding a view count of 300 million. It became so popular that Netflix let a sing-along version of the film out into theaters for a limited two-day release–from August 23 to August 24–making it the first ever Netflix film to top the box office.

Meanwhile, the soundtrack is also a huge success. The film’s hit song, “Golden,” held the top spot in the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, eventually becoming the soundtrack song with the longest Hot 100 first place run of the current decade. Three other songs held Top 10 spots as well – “Your Idol,” “Soda Pop,” and “How It’s Done,” making the soundtrack the first to have four spots on the Top 10 list.

Within the first few weeks, “K-Pop Demon Hunters” had already inspired several viral trends. Not to mention fans are asking for more from the “K-Pop Demon Hunters” universe – one of the most notable demands being the confirmed sequel to the film.

There's no debate that "K-Pop Demon Hunters" is not only an incredible success but a phenomenon in Korean culture and music.

The verdict: 9/10