This is the era of K-Pop Demon Hunters. It’s possible you’ve never heard of it if you have zero connection to global youth, and that would put you very far out of the loop.
The animated movie has been dominating Netflix, and not just by captivating millions of eyeballs. And if you’re a parent or grandparent, you almost certainly know about it — possibly more than you know about whatever grownup entertainment you’ve enjoyed binging.
It’s not that there’s anything particularly different about it. The animation is cutting edge from South Korea, and they do that craft almost better than anyone else, including the wizards in California, but it’s entirely what you’d expect. And the story is far from original: forces of good versus forces of evil with an overlay of Romeo and Juliet and tons of pop music. There are carefully calculated segments of slam-bang-wow graphics followed by touching traditional moments.
But when you stitch it together with the right kind of sensibility of filmmaking and awareness of your audience, you can have a huge hit. And is it ever huge? Netflix is delirious since KPDH has become the most watched film in the streamer’s history. In a weekend in late August, the film was shown in 1,700 theaters as a one-off sing-along, bringing in an estimated $18 - $20 million.
The soundtrack is dominating the Billboard charts, including four of its tracks making the Top 10 at the same time. The soundtrack has also surpassed three billion global streams. And the hits just keep on coming.
So, attention must be paid.
When I watched it with my 11- and 4-year-old granddaughters, I found it perfectly entertaining, and I could tell they were quite taken with it. Since then, they’ve seen it several more times. The older one has been counting: at the time of this writing, she’s seen it 15 times. (Her little sister says she’s seen it 20 times, but I suspect that’s merely juvenile one-upmanship as well as being able to proclaim her mastery of quantities.)
But they both experienced the sing-along at a Malco in Collierville and the big sister was enraptured. “It was beautiful, it was great,” she said. “There were so many people screaming, and it was a harmony of children.”
The sing-along part was a new experience for her. “I definitely got louder as the movie progressed. But it felt weird screaming in the movie theater.”
This was where I got to hold forth with a generational observation: “Well, in my day, we had the Rocky Horror Picture Show, where people showed up for midnight screenings and not only sang along, but dressed liked the characters and chanted the dialogue.”
I think she considered this a curiosity, as one does when an elder shares a bit of odd history.
But she understood the concept, saying “It was cool having a bunch of other people be obsessed with the same thing.”
I asked about her favorite song, and she said, “I liked the ending villain song ‘Your Idol.’ It’s catchy.” No kidding — that one reached No. 1 on Spotify’s U.S. Daily Top songs.
The story itself is about dueling pop groups — an all-girl trio named HUNTR/X (pronounced Huntrix) versus the Saja Boys, who are demons, of course. Interspersed between bubbly tracks are supernatural battles where souls of the fans are at stake. Just like in real life. But there are ancillary characters as well, and they have their own special appeal.
There is a recurring duo that is a welcome relief when some of the action gets heavy. Derpy the Tiger and Sussie the Magpie are simply adorable. Derpy (a big plushy hit in the merch world) is cuddly but serves as a protective spirit watching over the girls of HUNTR/X. My granddaughter’s favorite is Sussie, who is kind of mysterious, multi-eyed, and a symbol of good luck. “I like the bird because it’s weird and you could call it ugly-cute. It looks like a dinosaur and it’s very sassy.”
As any true fan is, the 11-year-old is hip to the making and marketing of KPDH. “I’m ready for the sequel, but they say it’ll be another three years,” she notes. “The animation is amazing and if they want to keep that title it’ll be a lot of work. I believe they’re also working on a prequel and a live-action. I feel like some of the things you can do with animation aren’t possible with live action. Of course CGI would be a big part of it.”
And here, it becomes clear that she’s a big movie nerd. She sees, she thinks, she observes. Along the way, she has a keen sense of what she likes with the music, the movement, the story, and the value of ugly-cute.
Let’s watch it again. ⎢
KPop Demon Hunters, an animated action-comedy film, is rated PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) by the Motion Picture Association and is generally considered suitable for kids aged 10 and up.