In 2025, Gints Zilbalodis’s low-budget and high-impact Flow won the Animated Feature Oscar, surpassing such heavyweights as Wild Robot and Inside Out 2. Might KPop Demon Hunters be that film this year – the one that beats the blockbuster Zootopia 2 and Elio?
KPop Demon Hunters has two Oscar nominations: one for Animated Feature and another for the song Golden. Music is an integral part of the film, about the K-pop girl band Huntrix, whose three members are secretly protecting the world from demons when not packing stadia with swooning fans.
Once upon a time, demons ruled over humans, extracting their souls to propitiate their god Gwi-Ma. Three women managed to break free, using their voices to create a barrier called the Honmoon. Over the centuries, trios of demon hunters have protected the world from their tormentors.
Huntrix is the present and last iteration. The band comprises Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho), Mira (voiced by May Hong) and Zoey (voiced by Ji-young Yoo). They are managed – barely – by the agreeably hysterical Bobby (Ken Jeong).
Huntrix is on the verge of releasing their latest single Golden when disaster strikes. Rumi, the band’s singer, loses her voice. Worse still, demonic patterns are spreading across her skin, making her vulnerable to attacks.
Gwi-Ma (voiced by Korean movie star Lee Byung-hun) sends the gorgeous Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop) to gut the protective Honmoon barrier. Jinu sets up a rival band, called Saja Boys, which cuts into Huntrix’s fan base and causes a rift between its members.
The English-language production, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans, is out on Netflix. KPop Demon Hunters cleverly taps into all things Hallyu, from pop bands and fashion to youth culture and folklore. Jinu is accompanied by a tiger and a six-eyed magpie, a reference to mythical creatures in Korean tradition.
Candy-coloured and energetic, packed with songs, humour and action, KPop Demon Hunters is a kaleidoscopic tour of emotions. (Neighbours be warned: the film has a sing-along version too.)
Over 95 minutes, the movie whizzes by, with enough plot strands related to the themes of friendship, personal identity and heritage left underexplored for a sequel or too. Entertaining and thoughtful, culturally specific while also globally relatable, KPop Demon Hunters is poised to give its rivals a serious run for the Animated Feature Oscar.
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