KPop Demon Hunters

Story

Korean pop stars Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho), Mira (voiced by May Hong) and Zoey (voiced by Ji-young Yoo) of the girl-band Huntrix are globally famous. They must also save the world from the demon king Gwi-Ma (voiced by Lee Byung-hun) and his minions. However, the demon hunters are stopped in their tracks when a demon boy band, headed by the handsome Jinu (voiced by Ahn Hyo-seop), takes the world stage and hijacks their fans.

Will the girls be able to come together and save the world from demon-kind before it’s too late?

Themes

Good vs evil; demons; positive influence of music; complex family dynamics; violence and death; shame; cultural diversity

Violence

KPop Demon Hunters has some violence. For example:

There are many fight scenes. Rumi and her friends have many weapons, including swords, daggers and other blades. They’re often shown in hand-to-hand combat, wrestling, stabbing, slashing and killing demons as they get attacked.
When demons are killed, they turn to dust so their bodies aren’t seen.
A character yells at her friend, upset that she has been lying to them.
Gwi-Ma controls the demons by tapping in to their guilt and shame. He often berates them, saying things like they ‘don’t deserve a family’ and are ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’.
Gwi-Ma calls the demons ‘weak, pathetic and useless’, after he kills one of them.
Jinu sacrifices himself to save Rumi, giving her his soul, before turning into dust and dying.

Sexual references

KPop Demon Hunters has some sexual references. For example:

Female characters are attracted to male characters in a cartoonishly hypersexualised way. Their eyes turn into hearts, or popcorn streams out of their eyes.
Male characters flex their muscles and show off their abs to distract female characters.
Rumi and a male character flirt throughout the movie. They make intense eye contact and blush.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no use of substances in KPop Demon Hunters.

Nudity and sexual activity

KPop Demon Hunters has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

One character in the boy band flexes his muscles so much that the buttons pop off his shirt. This reveals his bare chest and abs.
A man in a bathhouse wears only a towel around his waist.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in KPop Demon Hunters.

Coarse language

KPop Demon Hunters has some mild coarse language and name-calling, including ‘jeez’, ‘butts’, ‘idiots’ and ‘jerks’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

KPop Demon Hunters is a fun and fresh movie with a catchy soundtrack and a unique story that’s suitable for slightly older children while still being interesting for an older audience.

Because of its animated violence and injury and its scary scenes, KPop Demon Hunters is best suited to families with children aged over 10 years. We also recommend parental guidance for children aged up to 11 years because of the movie’s heavier themes, including death. Sensitive children who struggle with themes of death, shame and guilt might need parental guidance to an older age.

The main messages from KPop Demon Hunters are that to get through hard times, you need to accept both the good and bad things about yourself. The movie also emphasises the importance of friendship and relying on each other in times of need.

Values in KPop Demon Hunters that you could reinforce with your children include honesty, self-acceptance and reliance on friends.

KPop Demon Hunters could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues and questions like the following:

Rumi has lied to her friends for a long time about her demon heritage and has been taught to feel ashamed of it. You could talk about the importance of being honest and embracing all parts of yourself, even the parts you feel ashamed of
Jinu lies to Rumi about his past and betrays her before eventually doing the right thing. Why does Jinu act this way? How could he have done things differently?