K-POP DEMON HUNTERS

Name: K-POP DEMON HUNTERS
Item: K-POP DEMON HUNTERS
Author: Review

"Fight the Lies"

Family Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

K-POP DEMON HUNTERS, an animated movie streaming on Netflix, centers on a trio of pop stars who are secretly Hunters due to their voices' supernatural ability to drive demons back to hell. Korean Idols Rumi, Zoey, and Mira perform as the global girl band Huntrix, all while their singing strengthens the supernatural barrier preventing the demons from stealing the souls of their fans. But when a cunning demon gets permission from the King of Demons to form a demon boy band to divide the fans' loyalty, the girls must fight to keep the hearts and souls of their fans safe from the Demon King.

The movie presents a moral worldview, a clear moral compass, and profound lessons about overcoming persistent thoughts of fear, shame, and anxiety. However, elements of False Religion and Paganism muddle the messages of morality, where humans can become demons and demons can cross with humans. Although the movie is grounded in a moral, almost Biblical worldview, Gwi-Ma is evil, and he lies and deceives. Gwi-Ma controls both demons and humans through shame and condemnation, speaking to each character's fears and self-loathing, representing the nature of spiritual warfare. This movie isn't suitable for children; its target audience is young adults. Thus, MOVIEGUIDE ® recommends caution for older children and sensitive adults.

Content:

CONTENT:  (B, PaPa, FRFR, S, V, MM): 

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

  A moral worldview as a character controls demons and humans alike through shame and condemnation and speaks to each character’s fears and self-loathing. This is the nature of spiritual warfare. There is a prominent moral compass and deep themes about overcoming thoughts of fear, shame and anxiety that torment incessantly and a piercing insight into the humans’ innate need to worship and how often we can be led astray. Heaven is never mentioned hell is shown repeatedly. Hell is only referred to as “eternal torment,” and never called by name. However, it is still Biblically under everyone’s feet. Strong elements of false religion as there appears to be a hierarchy among demons as well. Demons fly and Hunters fly when their music lifts them up. Characters hear Gwi-Ma’s voice of shame, disguised as their own thoughts, and are thus tempted to give into his lies. He condemns and accuses demons and humans alike. Characters refer to “his voice” always in their heads. A strong Pagan worldview as, humans can become demons. If a human listens to the voice of Gwi-Ma and obeys him, purple scar-patterns appear on the skin. Gwi-Ma refers to the jagged-purple patterns that all demons bear as “his mark.” Gwi-Ma uses the power within those scar-patterns to drag a person down to hell. The marks light up when a demon is troubled or when Gi-Ma uses the marks to pull someone into hell;

Foul Language:

Girls call rude boys stupid jerks. Characters burp after eating. Girls make barfing noises to describe boys. Gwi-Ma calls his demons, “Weak, pathetic, useless” and “idiots.” People call demons “depraved.” Someone says, “Oh geez,” in panic.

Sex:

No sex. A brief shot shows what could be a same-sex couple and an androgynous character standing among a stadium crowd. In cartoon style, girls' eyes turn to hearts, corn and explode in popcorn when they see a ripped guy flexing his biceps and showing his abs. Girls and guys refer to each other as “hot.” Two characters fall in love but only sing to each other and hold hands.

Nudity:

None. A young man flexes to open his shirt and show his animated abs.

Alcohol Use:

None.

Violence:

Hunters slice and dice demons in half, but the demons explode in purple fireworks and sparkles the moment Hunters’ weapons touch them. One Hunter whips her knives in a demon’s face, but only her motion is shown and the demon immediately explodes in light. Different demons run around earth, some comedic, some decent fighters: horned-animal kinds, droopy kinds, colored-tumor-balls-covered kinds and crush-dummy kinds. Gwi-Ma eats lots of souls, but nothing is shown. Human characters scarf cute food and push it down their throats in cartoon style;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

  None; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

A form of honor killing is asked for, but the character refuses to do it. Characters keep secrets and lie to each other. Characters repent and ask for forgiveness. Gwi-Ma, the Satan figure, lies, deceives, manipulates, condemns and induces a character into a panic attack. Gwi-Ma sends his demons to suck people’s souls so he can eat them. Souls are portrayed as floating orbs of light leaving a human body; the aftermath of the body dying isn’t shown. A perfectionistic parenting style inventively causes a main character to spiral into shame. A tiger-like deity lives in a shrine and acts as a postman, delivering messages from hell. Demons sing they are “listen cuz I’m preaching to the choir,” an ironic statement to the stadium crowds who’ve already swallowed their message.

More Detail:

K-POP DEMON HUNTERS, an animated movie streaming on Netflix, centers on a trio of pop stars who are secretly Hunters due to their voices’ supernatural ability to drive demons back to hell. Korean Idols Rumi, Zoey, and Mira perform as the global girl band Huntrix, all while their singing strengthens the supernatural barrier preventing the demons from stealing the souls of their fans. But when a cunning demon gets permission from the King of Demons to form a demon boy band to divide the fans’ loyalty, the girls must fight to keep the hearts and souls of their fans safe from the Demon King.

The movie is a masterclass on shot composition, camera movement, film editing, and screenwriting. The framing and lighting guide the viewer’s eye to where the filmmakers want the audience to look. Watching K-POP DEMON HUNTERS is like attending a concert in a 70,000-seat stadium with ten times the adrenaline. Every cinematic choice drives home the overarching theme of the movie – to break the bondage of shame, one must confess the truth, which may hurt but grants freedom, forgiveness, and redemption.

Although the movie is grounded in a moral, almost Biblical worldview, Gwi-Ma is evil, and he lies and deceives. Gwi-Ma controls both demons and humans through shame and condemnation, speaking to each character’s fears and self-loathing, representing the nature of spiritual warfare. This movie isn’t suitable for children; its target audience is young adults. Thus, MOVIEGUIDE recommends caution for older children and sensitive adults.

The humor, cultural satire, and social commentary on the state of humanity featured in K-POP DEMON HUNTERS is made for an older audience. The movie acts as a social commentary on Korean and concert culture. Notably, Huntrix’s audience is not limited to teen girls – it encompasses adults, grandmas, married couples, children, and everyone. The Demon Boy band song slices through fan culture to reveal some searing truth. Concert culture isn’t just a country-specific phonon. It’s a global phenomenon.

From quack doctors to bathhouses to K-Drama personality tropes, this film is a crash course in Korean culture. In this culture, cute is king. Girls in their twenties wear fuzzy polar bear nightgowns and pink bows in their hair. Cute pajamas, delicious snacks, classic Korean cuisine, robes, and crunchy chips are all available. Men and women wear bright colors and appear to be models ready to be featured in fashion magazines.

When the Hunters declare they’ll kill the demon Saja Boys, a neon sign appears reading, “Kill Saja.” This sign doesn’t even exist in the movie’s world as a dramatic effect, serving instead as an inside joke for the audience and a throwback to Korean comics. Even the meet-cute scenes are shot in a style reminiscent of K-dramas, featuring slow-motion cuts of the same action from multiple angles, set against sunny lighting with much bokeh.

When characters become super excited, the art style changes, and they become chibi-like —a classic shorthand used throughout Eastern comics to convey emotion. When characters yell aggressively, their faces transform into disproportionate, unattractive expressions, which can be jarring for Western audiences; please note that this is a deliberate reference to an Eastern art style.

The music in K-POP DEMON HUNTERS is incredible, the voice acting stellar, and the costume and character design flawless. However, due to the dominating theme of overcoming shame and fear, this movie is not suitable for children as the target audience is young adults. Thus, MOVIEGUIDE® recommends caution for older children and sensitive adults.