What is KPop Demon Hunters, the Netflix film that has children everywhere obsessed?

If you haven’t heard of KPop Demon Hunters, I’m sorry to say you might be in the minority. The Netflix animated musical film has been out for less than two months and already is breaking global records and dominating both the screen and stereos of tweens and teens everywhere – and will soon make the leap to cinemas in a one-off global event.

But if you’ve missed the train, never fear, here’s everything you need to know about KPop Demon Hunters.

Okay, I’m biting. What is KPop Demon Hunters?

According to Netflix, the plot of the movie goes a little something like… “When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey aren’t selling out stadiums, they’re using their secret powers to protect their fans from supernatural threats.”

So, popstars with secret powers and enough spare time to save the world?

Correct. If you go a bit deeper, it’s an animated action-comedy-musical about two fictional K-pop groups – a boy band named Saja Boys (who are secretly demons wanting to suck the souls out of their fans) and a girl group, and part-time demon hunters, Huntr/x.

The Saja Boys are demons in disguise.

So the age-old ‘boys are made from frogs and snails and puppy-dogs tails, while girls are sugar and spice and everything nice’ kinda vibe…

It is marketed at tweens, so duh! As you can imagine though, there is a story (spoiler, it’s about friendship, accepting who you are and not trying to hide yourself), but there are also lots and lots of catchy songs.

And it’s popular. Like how popular?

In a word, very. It was released on June 20, and by the second week of August, it had become Netflix’s second most popular English-language film, being watched more than 184 million times, or for 308 million hours.

Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds in the action-comedy Red Notice.

What’s number 1?

Red Notice, the 2021 film starring Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Gal Gadot that scored a massive (not!) 37% on Rotten Tomatoes. Just for reference, KPop Demon Hunters scored 97%, so we are talking popular AND critically acclaimed.

Remind me, what is K-pop again?

Of course. K-pop is short for Korean pop music. Like the name implies, it’s a genre that originated in South Korea, and it includes an array of inspirations, including pop, R&B, hip-hop and dance music. Often heavily manufactured, many of the artists have been trained in singing, dancing and performance since they were young.

Can you give me some examples of K-pop I might have heard of?

Think BTS (who recently returned to music after the seven members were discharged from their mandatory military service in South Korea). Or Blackpink, the girl group with strong ties to New Zealand (breakout star Rosé was born in Auckland, while Jennie studied here for five years) – and another member, Lisa, starred in the third season of The White Lotus.

Blackpink has made global stars out of the four bandmates. Photo / Supplied

Gotcha. So back to KPop Demon Hunters – is it just popular on-screen?

Nope. And that’s thanks to some true-blue bops on the soundtrack, which is currently dominating the Billboard chart in the US. KPop Demon Hunters (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) has been streamed more than 3 billion times globally and is the highest-charting soundtrack of the year on the US charts. One of the film’s songs, Golden, which you can also hear on New Zealand radio, recently reclaimed the UK No 1 spot from Chappell Roan, and was the first K-pop single to go to No 1 in the UK since Psy’s Gangnam Style, 13 years ago. Not even Blackpink or BTS have achieved that. Here in Aotearoa, six of the film’s songs are in the top 10 – and have been for the last seven weeks.

Impressive. But it’s an animated band – are real people even singing or is it just AI?

It’s not just real people, it’s real K-pop stars who have brought Huntr/x to life. Rumi, the main vocalist, is played by Korean-American Ejae, who has also written two songs for the movie, as well as songs for artists including Twice, Red Velvet and Kard. The character of Mira is played by Audrey Nuna (real name Audrey Chu), who was born in New Jersey and is signed to Sony Music. Rei Ami plays Zoe, the group’s American-born rapper. Ami had a TikTok hit with the 2020 song Freak.

Why are the songs so darn catchy?

Probably because they have been written by real-world K-pop producers like Ejae, Teddy Park and Danny Chung.

And what about the non-singing cast?

Yip, you’ll probably recognise some of them a bit more. Think Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-O), Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken, Community) and Byung Hun Lee (Squid Game).

There's something for everyone in KPop Demon Hunters.

You said KPop Demon Hunters is not just for kids…

Don’t get me wrong, kids are the target audience and fanbase, but it’s one of those movies that has a few jokes thrown in for the grown-ups, and once again, I cannot emphasise how great the music is if you’re a fan of boppy pop.

And what about this cinema sing-along thing?

Movie makers know a money pot when they see one – KPop Demon Hunters will be screened at Hoyts cinemas in New Zealand and Australia this weekend for special sing-along sessions. Pack your earplugs, bring a book, or learn the words – it’s up to you.

KPop Demon Hunters is streaming now on Netflix.

Bridget Jones joined the New Zealand Herald in 2025. She has been a lifestyle and entertainment journalist and editor for more than 15 years.