The Paw Print

Since its release on June 20, 2025, KPop Demon Hunters has been on an unstoppable roll, breaking records on Spotify and Netflix and even having Payton grizzlies with its addictive playlist and stellar animation from Sony Pictures Animation. Just three months ago, imagining a fictional K-pop girl group topping US charts over BTS and Blackpink seemed impossible, but the streaming sensation has become a cultural phenomenon, sparking conversations worldwide.

The film follows Huntr/x, a K-pop girl group that doubles as a trio of demon hunters, consisting of Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo). The three sing, dance, slay demons and leverage the love fans show them to build a barrier, known as the Golden Honmoon, that will block the demons from entering the human world to steal souls.

Opposing them is Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun, also known as the front man from Squid Game), the leader of the demons. Frustrated by the successful sealing of the honmoon for over thousands of years, he readily accepts Jinu’s (Ahn Hyo-seop) suggestion to form a rival demon boy band, aiming to sway fans and steal souls.

Many fans are not entirely satisfied. Many critics have pointed out plot holes and underdeveloped characters like Mira, Zoey, and the rest of the demon boys. With a runtime of just 96 minutes, every character except Jinu and Rumi were left unexplored, leaving the rest largely unexplored. 

The issues of plot holes and unexplored territory and background might be addressed in the confirmed sequel, KPop Demon Hunters 2. 

Despite these critiques, the movie has become a global summer sensation. KPop Demon Hunters is now the most-streamed movie in Netflix history, surpassing Red Notice. Within only three months of its release, the movie has garnered 236 million total views compared to the 230.9 million that Red Notice accumulated in its 4 years of streaming. The movie stayed in the Number One spot for top movies, only dropping to second place with the recent addition of Ice Road: Vengeance. Even the sing-along version of the movie reached 7th place.

Huntr/x’s hit song “Golden”, performed by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, debuted at No. 52 on the Billboard Global 200. It has spent its ninth consecutive week at the top of the Billboard Global 200, Spotify Top 50 Global Playlist and Billboard Global Excl. US Charts. Golden has surpassed Blackpink as the highest-charting female K-pop group. Other KPop Demon Hunters songs aren’t far behind, with Soda Pop in third, Your Idol in fourth, How It’s Done in fifth, What It Sounds Like in eighth, Takedown in eleventh, and Free in fourteenth. 

Your Idol performed by Kevin Woo, Andrew Choi, Danny Chung, samUIL Lee and Neckwav topped the US Spotify chart in July, making them the highest charting male K-pop group in US Spotify history, surpassing BTS’s “Dynamite” which topped at No. 3 on the chart. 

The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack debuted at No. 8 on Billboards 200, but after spending twelve weeks on the chart, it is now seated at No. 1, which makes it the highest-charting soundtrack of 2025.

KPop Demon Hunters is not only popular worldwide, it is also a phenomenon at Payton. On Sep. 8, a watchparty enrichment was created, allowing students to gather, watch (or rewatch) the movie together. Attendance filled quickly, reflecting the movie’s widespread popularity among the student body.

Students commented on both the strengths and weaknesses of the film. One particularly popular aspect of the movie among students was the soundtrack. Lines from Golden, including the chorus “We’re goin’ up, up, up, it’s our moment,” were noted by students to appear frequently on social media, reflecting the song’s viral appeal.

Akshara Rajan ‘28 believed the music was the highlight.

“My favorite part of the movie was definitely the songs! I think the plot, while engaging, is relatively average compared to the beautiful animation and amazing music. My favorite song is probably How It’s Done. I really like the composition and the animation that accompanies it. The scenes were also really cool.” Rajan said. 

Other students noted areas where the film fell short. A junior who wished to remain anonymous said that while the music was memorable, the story itself was predictable and cliché.

“I thought the plot was bad. It felt like it had a bad conclusion because the ending was so predictable and cliché. Also, the overall plot is spread apart enough with multiple different sections that don’t exactly relate to each other. It makes the entire movie kind of unmemorable. It’s overrated because it has the same themes and plot developments as many other PG films too. The only thing that sets it apart is the songs.” 

An anonymous sophomore explained that the film in general was great, especially the animations and songs.

“My favorite part of the movie was the music. The music felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the heaps of movies being produced nowadays. I think its popularity is very much deserved. It’s an incredibly well made film, and I personally think animation is a medium that generally doesn’t have that much popularity, so to see an animated film get this much recognition is very cool.”
Overall, students agree that the movie is incredible. It successfully blends infectious K-pop music and vibrant animation with a fun, albeit slightly cliché, storyline about self-acceptance. The strong visuals, incredible soundtrack, and animation style captivate audiences of all ages. KPop Demon Hunters, a movie living up to its popularity and hype, is certainly a must-watch for anyone.