Kpop Demon Hunters
The following piece of media is considered secular. As such, it may lack overt Christian themes and may uphold values that are considered sinful. This review is not an endorsement of this piece of media or its creators but has been written to help Christians navigate the secular world and its stories. It is Brainy Pixel’s belief that good, Biblical values can oftentimes still be found in secular media. God is the Author of All Things and has woven His story and values throughout humanity. These articles are intended to search these values and will present our findings honestly. Take heart! There are still some good stories out there!
Summary
Kpop Demon Hunters is the new, worldwide contemporary fantasy sensation by Sony Pictures Animation. The movie takes place in Seoul, South Korea, where a trio of warrior-singers known as Huntr/x sing songs of courage and heart to strengthen the barrier between their world and the demon world, known as the “honmoon”. The demons hatch a plan to oppose Huntr/x, winning over the very fans they draw strength from by forming their own band, known as the Saja Boys. In a battle for souls, Huntr/x lead singer Rumi must contend with her past in order to stop the demon apocalypse and strengthen the friendships she has with her bandmates, Mira and Zoey.
Assessment
Kpop Demon Hunters is a high-quality animated movie with solid writing, beautiful animation, a catchy soundtrack, and characters that are both likeable and relatable. It stands out among animated movies as one of the most well-crafted stories in the past decade — and would in many other decades past. The movie is rich with storytelling from the dynamic characters, the little details about South Korean culture and nuances, the spectacular animation, and the nuances of guilt and shame as burdens.
Despite its secular nature, the movie provides a solid theological message of hope, love, redemption, spiritual warfare, the struggle of good versus evil, and the power of community. Staying away from some of the narrow focuses of its contemporaries, this story also presents a message of breaking free from guilt and shame, striving to be unashamedly yourself. Not in terms of gender identity or sexual orientation, but in terms of being who you were created to be, and not carrying burdens and sins that come from your parents.
Light-o-Meter
Writing: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Filmmaking: 7 out of 7 Little Lights
Acting: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Cleanliness: Clean for PG-13 (lots of action, but no blood or gore; some intense themes and peril; brief innuendo/gratuitous closeup of a male’s abs)
Theological Message: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Talk
If you’ve spent any time in the past few weeks on social media, then you probably know which movie I’m talking about. If you haven’t…hi, we are discussing a movie called Kpop Demon Hunters, which, I know, sounds really silly — and I am absolutely sure that my summary above did not help — but you have to trust me on this one. It’s amazing.
Despite being an avid kdrama and Korean language fan, my original intention was just to watch Kpop Demon Hunters for the funnies. The animation looked great, the title was a little ridiculous, I’m not the hugest kpop fan (it’s good, just not my jam), and I figured it would have some kind of very modern, pro-demon twist in the middle that was going to drive me insane. I was expecting a lot of grey morality and not-so-subtle messaging like most animation has been presenting in recent years (looking at you, Disney).
I was so, so wrong about this movie.
What Kpop Demon Hunters actually is, is a spectacular story. From the animation to the characters to the nods towards Korean culture and the kpop industry to how cleanly black-and-white the whole plot was, it’s amazing. There was also such wonderful examples of wholesome, healthy friendships (with no romantic undertones!! Just friendship!!) with plenty of room for relatively drama-free character arcs. Yes, there is tension in the friendships, but it’s handled with significantly more emotional maturity than a significant portion of modern storytelling.
As for the theological message, I give this movie as high of a rating as I can for a non-Christian piece of media (secular media tends to lose a point because I know any pro-Christian message they have is usually coincidental or unintentionally Christian). Both the heroes and the villains did an amazing job depicting elements of Christian faith such as the power worship has to dispel the darkness (just switch out Huntr/x’s songs for a couple of Psalms and we’ve got a Christian movie on our hands); the beauty in a community of like-minded believers from different backgrounds; how shame can weigh a person down and keep them from reaching their true, God-given potential; how the enemy uses not just a person’s own sin, but the sin of their family and friends to keep them feeling worthless and powerless; and how no one is beyond redemption. It’s beautifully Christian without being Christian at all and I particularly like that the message of power over darkness is not power in oneself, but with community (or, to put a Christian filter on it, through the Body of Christ).
In terms of age range, it is rated as PG, but Netflix has a tendency to rate media based on what they think will get the most views rather than the actual content inside the story so I’m going to provide my detailed rating override. Overall, the movie fits closer to PG-13, because of how intense some of the themes and scenes are, particularly towards the end. I think it’d be difficult for younger kids to really grasp the movie’s core message of “sometimes the bad guy looks really handsome and appealing, but he’s still evil” than older kids. For anyone younger than 18, it would probably be best if an adult helped break down some of that content and reinforce the idea that sometimes evil is really appealing and tempting, but that doesn’t make it any less dangerous.
In terms of violence and other adult themes, the movie is overall really clean. There is a lot of action and some intense themes, but no gore; demons dissolve into puffs of light when killed and none of the main characters take any serious injuries. There may have been a tiny bit of cussing in English that was really brief, but I didn’t hear anything in Korean. Similarly with inappropriate jokes, there were a few but nothing that I’d consider egregious (the kind of humor that adults might pick up on, but that sail way over the heads of most kids). I think the movie’s biggest crime is probably a gratuitous shirtless scene with one of the Saja Boys. Since they are supposed to be villainous tempters, it makes a lot of sense in the context of the story, but it might be too much for some girls just entering puberty (fortunately it was super short and could be easily skipped).
Where to Enjoy
Kpop Demon Hunters is currently streaming on Netflix!
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