KPop Demon Hunters


KPop Demon Hunters is a 2025 American animated musical urban fantasy film co-written and directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. Produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix, the film stars the voices of Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Lee Byung-hun. The story follows a K-pop girl group, Huntrix, who lead double lives as demon hunters; they face off against a new rival boy band, the Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons.
KPop Demon Hunters originated from Kang's desire to create a story inspired by her Korean heritage, drawing on elements of mythology, demonology, and K-pop to craft a visually distinct and culturally rooted film. The film was reported to be in production at Sony Pictures Animation by March 2021, with the full creative team attached, and was animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks. It was visually influenced by concert lighting, editorial photography, and music videos; and drew inspiration from anime and Korean dramas. The soundtrack features original songs by several musicians, and a score composed by Marcelo Zarvos.
KPop Demon Hunters began streaming on Netflix on June 20, 2025, while a sing-along version of the film received limited theatrical releases on August 23–24 and October 31 – November 2. The film received acclaim for its animation, visual style, voice acting, writing, and music and became the most-watched original title in Netflix history with over 500 million views. Its sing-along theatrical release was the widest by number of theaters for a Netflix film, and the first to top the box office in the United States. KPop Demon Hunters has garnered numerous accolades, including winning Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song at the 31st Critics' Choice Awards and 83rd Golden Globe Awards, and being featured in Time magazine as its 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.
The film's soundtrack achieved similar success; it became the first film soundtrack on the Billboard Hot 100 to have four of its songs in the top ten simultaneously, was certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 2025, and received five Grammy Award nominations along with a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards; the film itself is also nominated for Best Animated Feature. A sequel is planned to be released in 2029.

Plot

Long ago, demons preyed on humans, feeding their souls to their ruler Gwi-Ma. Eventually, three women became demon hunters and used their singing voices to create a magical barrier against demons called the Honmoon. As time passed, new trios of hunters emerged to maintain the Honmoon, with the ultimate goal of strengthening it into the Golden Honmoon—a final seal that would permanently banish demons.
In the present, the K-pop girl group Huntrix—composed of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey—are the latest demon-hunting trio, trained by former hunter Celine. Rumi is secretly half-demon, a fact known only to her and Celine, who raised Rumi. Disquieted by the demonic patterns gradually spreading across her skin, Rumi pushes forward the release and live performance of Huntrix's new single, "Golden", hoping it will turn the Honmoon gold and thereby erase her patterns. However, as they prepare for the performance, Rumi begins to lose her voice.
In the demon world, Gwi-Ma grows enraged at his minions' failures. Led by Jinu, a human-turned-demon, five demons form a boy band called the Saja Boys to steal Huntrix's fans and weaken the Honmoon, in exchange for Gwi-Ma promising to erase Jinu's painful human memories. Watching their debut, "Soda Pop", Huntrix quickly discover the Saja Boys' demonic nature and later attack them. As they fight, Jinu discovers Rumi's patterns, but helps hide them from her bandmates. Meeting privately, Jinu tells Rumi that feelings of shame enslave demons through voices from Gwi-Ma. He shares with her that 400 years prior, Gwi-Ma granted him fame and recognition that helped his family emerge from poverty, but then condemned him to the demon world; Jinu now lives with guilt over his family's downfall.
As the Saja Boys grow more popular, the Honmoon is weakened, allowing more demon attacks to occur. With the Idol Awards approaching, Huntrix rush to produce a new song, "Takedown", to expose the Saja Boys. Rumi's discomfort with the song's harsh, demon-hating lyrics strains her relationship with Mira and Zoey. Rumi proposes a plan to Jinu: if he helps Huntrix win the Idol Awards and strengthen the Honmoon, he could freely stay in the human world. Later, Rumi tells Jinu that her shame about her demon heritage weakened her voice, but talking with him healed it. Jinu says that he no longer hears voices, thanks likewise to Rumi, and agrees to sabotage the Saja Boys. Gwi-Ma summons Jinu, reminds him of the truth that he abandoned his family for a life of wealth and comfort, then threatens to amplify the tormenting voices if he reneges on their deal.
At the Idol Awards, Huntrix perform "Golden", having chosen to shelve "Takedown" due to the contention it caused between them. However, impostor demons sent by Jinu lure Mira and Zoey away from Rumi, while two other demons impersonate them to trick Rumi into performing "Takedown", during which they reveal her demon patterns. She flees the stage and runs into the real Mira and Zoey, who feel betrayed upon learning of her hiding her demon nature and collusion with Jinu from them. Rumi confronts Jinu for tricking her, and he admits to lying about his past. Gwi-Ma, strengthened by the influx of consumed souls and decaying Honmoon, enters the human world and casts a trance over the public, including Mira and Zoey, drawing them to the Saja Boys' performance set to feed him more souls. A desperate Rumi meets with Celine and asks her to end her life. Celine refuses and discusses plans to restore the previous status quo. Rumi lashes out at Celine for never fully loving her and repudiates the now-destroyed Honmoon before abruptly leaving.
Rumi interrupts the Saja Boys' performance of "Your Idol" with an improvised new song addressing her shame and self-acceptance, which breaks Mira and Zoey out of Gwi-Ma's trance. Reunited, Huntrix fight back and free the crowd. A repentant Jinu sacrifices himself to save Rumi from an attack by Gwi-Ma, giving his restored soul to reinforce her; the empowered Huntrix defeat Gwi-Ma and the remaining Saja Boys, resealing the demons and creating a new Honmoon.
No longer ashamed of her patterns, Rumi later celebrates with Mira and Zoey at a bathhouse, sharing tears of joy, and afterwards they meet their fans in public.

Voice cast

voices a television host who interviews Huntrix. Maggie Kang, Nathan Schauf, and Charlene Ramos provide additional voices.

Production

Development

Director Maggie Kang first pitched the idea that eventually became KPop Demon Hunters to film producer Aron Warner in 2018, while he was working on the production of Wish Dragon for Sony Pictures Animation. On March 8, 2021, the film, under the working title K-Pop: Demon Hunters, was announced to be underway at Sony. Kang and Chris Appelhans would direct with writing duo Hannah McMechan and Danya Jimenez writing the script, with Warner and Michelle L. M. Wong serving as producers. Mingjue Helen Chen and Ami Thompson were also announced as production designer and art director, respectively.
It was conceived by Kang who wanted to make a film about Korean culture; she "delved into mythology and demonology for something that could be visually unique" compared to mainstream media. She also called the film her "love letter to K-pop" and to her Korean background. Kang explained that when developing the history of the demon hunters, they decided to play into Korean shamanism, and specifically the historical usage of song and dance as part of the rituals of Korean shaman women. On character design, Kang emphasized wanting to differentiate the main characters from "Marvel female superheroes that were just sexy and cool and badass" and instead combine those elements with "girls who had potbellies and burped and were crass and silly and fun". She was also influenced by the films of Bong Joon Ho, which combine multiple different tones in a way that, to Kang, gives a feeling of animation to them. She and Appelhans specifically cited Bong's monster movie The Host as an inspiration for blending genres and moods. Appelhans later came on board after Kang told him her initial ideas for the film; he planned to take a long break after having directed Wish Dragon. He stated that he "always wanted to do a film about the power of music—to unite, bring joy, build community". McMechan and Jimenez were approached to screenwrite for the film by Nicole Perlman; speaking to Variety, McMechan explained that though the two "had never done animation before, and we didn't know anything about K-pop", they were "exactly what Maggie had been looking for, with our friendship and us being young girls".

Character design

The name Huntrix portmanteaus hunter with the Latin feminine agent noun suffix -trix, to evoke the idea of women warriors. The three members of Huntrix were modeled after K-pop girl groups like Itzy, Blackpink, Twice, and 2NE1. The fashion and makeup of the characters took inspiration from Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Alexander McQueen, with a focus toward "infusing Korean traditional elements with haute couture". The character of Rumi was originally created by Kang and her husband, Radford Sechrist, for Sechrist's comic Plastic Walrus, before later being repurposed and reshaped by Kang for KPop Demon Hunters. The character of Mira was inspired by Korean model Ahn So Yeon. The Saja Boys were inspired by Korean boy bands such as Tomorrow X Together, BTS, Stray Kids, Ateez, BigBang, and Monsta X. Korean actor and singer Cha Eun-woo was a key influence for Jinu, the group's leader. The names of the members of the Saja Boys, with the exception of Jinu, serve as labels describing different K-pop archetypes. The term Saja dually alludes to the jeoseung saja, a figure in Korean folklore comparable to the Grim Reaper, and to the Korean word for lion, saja, with the image of a lion head being used for the Saja Boys' logo, and the band's fandom being referred to as "the Pride".
Baek Byung-yeul of The Korea Times stated the styling of both groups connects to "the past and the present of Korea"—the members of Huntrix "wear norigae pendants integrated into modern K-pop fashion, while Saja Boys perform in black hanbok and traditional horsehair hats for their song 'Your Idol,' evoking the image of the jeoseung saja". Additionally, Huntrix all wield traditionally Korean weapons. Max Kim of the Los Angeles Times noted the historical nods to Korean artists "who are seen today as the progenitors of contemporary K-pop" such as the Jeogori Sisters, The Kim Sisters and S.E.S. Kang described the visual journey in the character design such as the Saja Boys starting in a "bubble gum pop, very saccharine, super sweet look" and shifting darker until they fully take on the appearance of the jeoseung saja. Appelhans commented on the visual storytelling present in Huntrix's performance costuming; the costumes Huntrix wear when performing "Golden" symbolize "their kind of MacGuffin of a dream", aspiring for perfection and irreproachability, with the tearing away of Rumi's costume at the end of the film's second act representing the disruption of that dream. Appelhans further noted this usage of costuming as part of an effort to have the workings of K-pop be reflected within the film in a way that also integrated with the film's plot.