As a dad of two girls under the age of 10, I say this from experience: Most kids movies stink. I am sometimes astounded by the junk that captures my daughters’ imagination. (Please don’t tell them I said this, they’ll yell at me.) But I am always happy to rewatch Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ KPop Demon Hunters — something I have already done many times — easily one of the most joyful, heartfelt, and exuberant movies about the power of pop music since A Hard Day’s Night.
An outrageous comparison? I disagree. What was the last movie to spawn so many chart-topping hits? When was the last time a film garnered such an enormous audience on streaming that its distributor released it in theaters after it had already been viewed millions of times at home? The movie is such a phenomenon at this point that Netflix even made a KPop Demon Hunters themed Yule Log. (It’s actually quite soothing.)
In log or cinematic form, the film’s appeal is universal. In addition to that soundtrack full of earworms and the beautiful images from Sony Pictures Animation (the studio behind three of the last eight winners of the New York Film Critic Circle’s Best Animated Film Award), KPop Demon Hunters boasts a trio of heroines who are powerful, cool, and funny, with voices as transcendent as their pop star outfits. Their battle to seal the “Honmoon” and protect their world from demons is really a journey of self-acceptance — learning to embrace their unique differences rather than hide them away from the world. The film is also very pro-couch, one of the few values left in our world that everyone can agree upon.
Take it from the only member of the NYFCC who threw a KPop Demon Hunters-themed birthday party for an eight year old this year (complete with “Cake Pop Demon Hunters” for dessert): This movie is here to stay. So raise a glass (of soda pop) to 2025’s best animated feature.