Here’s Why ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Became The Hit Movie Of The Summer
By now, you have heard of KPop Demon Hunters.
If you haven’t actually seen it on Netflix, then you’ve at least heard its ubiquitous music or seen your cousin performing a misguided dance to it on TikTok. Its songs, credited to a fictional demon-fighting girl group with magical voices, have topped Billboard charts. In fact, the #1 placement of “Golden” on the Billboard Hot 100 makes it the first song by a girl group to top the charts since Destiny’s Child released “Bootylicious.” KPop Demon Hunters has brought back girl groups. It is an icon, it’s a legend, and it is the moment.
But why? Let’s break it down.
The music
The aforementioned “Golden” is a certified banger. As the movie’s recurring inspirational pop anthem, it plays a vital storytelling role, but as a song itself, it’s lined with enough hooks to fuel five months of gay screams. I wouldn’t be surprised if “Golden” is still playing at Pride events in 2070. But “Golden” isn’t the only song people have on repeat. The movie’s villain song “Your Idol” is soulless boy band brilliance, whereas “This is What it Sounds Like” is the kind of epic empowerment ballad that gets you out of bed in the morning.
The original concept
If there’s one lesson that studios learned from Summer 2025, it’s that audiences want original movies. After Sinners, Weapons, and F1 made waves at the box office, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that KPop Demon Hunters, a movie about mythical demon-slaying Kpop singers, would attract attention. Netflix took the hint and released a sing-a-long edition of the already-popular movie in August, making millions and further widening the movie’s international spotlight.
The Kpop connection
KPop Demon Hunters packs in a lot of jokes about Korean culture that are familiar to anyone who has watched a K-drama or even listened to BLACKPINK. The sequence in which the girl and boy bands share a meet-cute near the beginning is comically extended, but only slightly. After all, it usually takes three hours minimum for attractive K-drama characters to pass each other in the street for the first time.
Given that Kpop fans are among the most vocal online, this inclusion of K-jokes ensured that they would increase social media chatter about KPop Demon Hunters and raise its international profile.
The classic story
Despite its Kpop fan service, KPop Demon Hunters boasts a story that transcends cultural boundaries and appeals to a wider audience. The classic Romeo and Juliet setup builds tension right away, and the movie’s main theme of self acceptance resonates with anyone experiencing an identity crisis. It’s no accident that this movie has taken off with queer people worldwide, placing “Golden” on par with “Let it Go” in terms of lipsyncability at drag shows.
The voice cast
As the three members of Huntr/x, Arden Cho, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo are all emotive and dynamic performers. Though their vocal tones don’t always match up to the voice actors who supply their singing voices, they accomplish the tricky goal of reeling listeners in. But this voice cast has some established stars as well. There’s Lea Salonga, Mulan herself, who supplies the singing voice for Rumi’s adoptive mother. Then there’s Ken Jeong, he of naked Hangover fame, who provides the regular voice for Bobby, the manager of Huntr/x. Then there’s Fire Island star and comedian Joel Kim Booster in the role of “Romance Saja,” a.k.a. the demonic boy band member with cotton candy pink hair.
The animation
Movies typically need to appeal to multiple segments of the population to be successful, and KPop Demon Hunters doesn’t immediately appeal to straight men. After all, the male characters in this movie are largely maligned psychopaths. However, the movie’s animated style is very reminiscent of the Spider-Verse movies — a dog whistle to straight men — and there’s plenty of action to keep boyfriends transfixed. Perhaps they’ll even be less toxic by the end of the movie. All in all, the movie made a good decision to embrace an animation style that’s distinct from other major studios. Here we are at that whole “people liking originality” thing again! Studios, take note: If you want money, make a KPop Demon Hunters. Not, like, a sequel. Like, a new thing.
