Unraveling the Phenomenon: Why Netflix's K-Pop Demon Hunters Movie Went Viral

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In schoolyards and dance clubs across the country, Australians are embracing a genre-bending animated film centred around a K-pop girl band that secretly fights demons.

The Netflix original KPop Demon Hunters has become an unlikely worldwide phenomenon, including in Australia, and is now the second most popular English-language movie globally.

In the nine weeks since its premiere on 21 June, it has racked up 210 million views and is second only to action comedy film Red Notice on the screener’s list of most popular movies. It’s the first animated movie to enter the list.

An animation of three young women dressed in brigthly coloured outfits and holding up their right forefingers.

The animated film KPop Demon Hunters follows a girl band called Huntr/x. Source: Supplied / Netflix

In Australia, KPop Demon Hunters is currently the number one film on Netflix and has spent nine weeks in the top 10.

It’s become so popular that singalong screenings are being held in Hoyts cinemas across the country this weekend.

What is KPop Demon Hunters about?

The English-language animated musical is a vibrant introduction to the world of K-pop and follows the lives of girl group Huntr/x, whose soaring vocals help keep demons away.

The music drives much of the film’s appeal, and the soundtrack has been the number one album on the ARIA charts in Australia for five non-consecutive weeks. The song Golden has also topped the Top 50 Singles, securing a rare ARIA chart double.

Directed and co-written by Maggie Kang, who was born in South Korea and grew up in Canada, the film was inspired by Kang’s love of K-pop.

“I have been a fan of these incredible artists and their work for many years, so it’s a dream come true to have original songs written and produced for our film by legendary talent such as The Black Label [a leading South Korean record label],” Kang says.

Dr Sung-Ae Lee, an expert in Asian cinema at Macquarie University, describes the film’s blend of fast-paced visuals as channelling “global energy”.

She points to its incorporation of K-pop culture, which thrives online, and says it reflects young people’s use of social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, as well as its fan communities.

“I think it’s kind of a turning point … it’s a really innovative idea of K-pop idols plus this fantasy genre,” she says.

Three animated young women in colourful outfits strike a pose on stage.

KPop Demon Hunters follows the lives of K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey, who use their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans from a supernatural threat. Source: Supplied / Netflix

While Lee believes the success of the music, which is performed by real singers, is connected to its narrative context within the film, others have suggested it also demonstrates the potential for animated bands, possibly driven by artificial intelligence, to achieve chart success.

Suk-Young Kim, a professor at the University of California, told the Wall Street Journal the film’s success shows it’s possible for fans to connect with nonhuman idols.

“This is a long-running dream for K-pop companies,” Kim said. “Here we have idols who never sleep, never get sick, never age.”

Schoolkids embrace hit film

The popularity of the film appears to have grown organically without the publicity that has helped fuel the success of other Netflix hits such as Red Notice.

Sydney mother Alison McLeod says she watched KPop Demon Hunters with her seven-year-old daughter after it was recommended by the Netflix algorithm.

The 44-year-old says the film reminded her of the Japanese manga series Astro Boy and other animations she watched as a child.

“I had friends that were into manga and definitely into K-pop music … I knew a little bit about the genre and what to expect. And it just looked fun,” McLeod tells SBS News.

What I really liked once we started watching it was the themes … the girl power.

“It embraces the [non] typical girl — these three girls are different. They just presented as really good role models for my little one, she’s fiesty.”

Her daughter now re-enacts scenes from the movie with her friends at school, and McLeod says she also attended a seven-year-old’s birthday party recently that featured songs from the soundtrack during a game of musical bumps (like musical statues but players sit instead of freeze).

“They were rocking out to the Demon Hunter soundtrack and every single kid there knew all the words,” she says.

McLeod says her daughter is predominantly attracted to the music, with the film’s soundtrack now on daily rotation in their car and home. But she also seems to identify more with the characters than those in other films, such as Encanto and Trolls, which have been previous obsessions.

McLeod has previously dyed her hair purple and both she and her partner have tattoos — like the lead character in Demon Hunters, Rumi. She says the film is helping her daughter to embrace differences in personal style and expression as “cool”.

“We’re not the norm in society, and I think that she [McLeod’s daughter] feels like the Huntr/x girls embody that in a really cool way … she’ll 1756016712 be like ‘I can have purple hair’.”

A Hollywood film featuring Korean culture

The film has also been a hit within the Korean community and remains the top movie on Netflix in South Korea.

“I thought maybe Korean audiences [would] resist it but it was really popular and they like it,” Lee says.

“I think it’s because it’s youth culture.”

Lee says she didn’t like KPop Demon Hunters the first time she watched it because it seemed Americanised.

“[While] the subject is quite Korean … it’s not Korean at all, it’s actually Hollywood.

The animation is American to me — the body language and facial expression — they’re all American, not Korean.

She says it’s hard to pinpoint exact movements, but one example is shrugging, a common gesture in the US, and quite different to gestural conventions in Korean films.

But in other ways, it incorporates culturally Korean tropes, and folklore elements that Lee found impressive.

The film features a tiger and a magpie, a combination that is often seen in Korean folk paintings called Jakhodo. They symbolise good fortune and are thought to ward off evil spirits.

An large blue animated tiger with a three-eyed magpie sitting on its head, looks at an animated girl with purple hair.

A scene featuring a large tiger and magpie talking to the lead character Rumi. Source: Supplied / Netflix

“I was really surprised in the beginning [that] they’re using it. I think it’s one of the most beloved folk images [in Korean culture],” Lee says.

The name of the boy band in the film, Saja, also has a dual meaning in Korean. It can refer to a lion, symbolising strength and courage, but can also refer to a grim reaper, a meaning that makes sense in the film as the band members are collecting souls.

Animation of five young men in colourful outfits posing

K-pop girl band Huntr/x must battle Saja, an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise. Source: Supplied / Netflix

Leah Hyein Na, executive producer of the Korean program at SBS, says the Korean community in Australia is proud of the film and appreciates its meticulous depiction of Korean elements. She says her children also love the film and sing the songs with friends at school.

Associate professor in Korean studies at Australian National University, Roald Maliangkay, says the Korean studies community — both Korean and non-Korean — is particularly interested in how Korean folk elements have been incorporated in the film.

“I was shown an exhibition of Chosun dynasty clothes at the Korea University museum [recently] and the lady giving the tour pointed at a very old sword, noting that it was just like the one used in KPop Demon Hunters,” he says.

The song Golden was also being played everywhere during Maliangkay’s recent visit to South Korea, which he says is a good indication of its popularity with foreign tourists as well.

Why is Kpop Demon Hunters so popular?

Workers at the I HEART KPOP store in Brisbane say they saw an immediate impact on sales following the film’s release.

“We had so many parents coming in looking for any of the merch from the movie,” store worker Aurelia says.

The 24-year-old says the store has always attracted a mixed demographic — across race, age and gender — but they have seen more people coming in who aren’t interested in K-pop but love the film.

A recent K-pop party hosted by the store in Brisbane, which usually attracts around 800 people, drew around 1,200 attendees.

“The crowd went very crazy for the songs from KPop Demon Hunters,” Aurelia says.

Aurelia has been a fan of K-pop since 2019 after stumbling upon a video of the boy band BTS on YouTube.

“I was really touched by the way that BTS talk about their fans, the relationship that they had between the fans and the respect that they had for them,” she says.

While she was initially sceptical of KPop Demon Hunters, she says she was happily surprised after watching it.

“You could see — as a K-pop fan — it was made by fans … I thought that was awesome,” she says.

Two young women hold up their arms in the shape of a heart

Aurelia (left) is a K-pop fan and recently attended a dance party in Brisbane that drew 1,200 people. Source: Supplied / Silvana Sanchez

Audrey Nuna, who voices Mira in the film, told SBS Korean that she had a feeling the movie would do well.

“When I was recording the songs for this movie, I did tell my mum,” she says.

“I was like: ‘mum, I think this movie’s going to do really, really well’ because I think so many people have a love — even people who are not Korean — have such a love for Korean music, Korean pop, Korean culture.

“[But] I don’t think I ever could have expected it to be at this level.”

With its themes of girl power, coming of age and youth culture, Lee says the film feels “fresh”, and she also eventually embraced it.

It’s not a typical supernatural action genre — it’s quite fresh and [there’s] flair to it, that’s why I like it.

Lee believes audiences may also be drawn to its themes of self-acceptance, friendship and empowerment.

Other shows featuring demon hunters, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sailor Moon, have also been popular with Western audiences in the past.

“Generation X or even older generations, they are really interested in K-pop and things like that because they grew up with [these shows],” Lee says.

“These are all women warriors or girl warriors.”

Movie sparks interest in Korean culture

McLeod says her daughter is envious of her two Korean friends at school because they can understand parts of the songs that aren’t translated into English.

“Their school teaches Mandarin, and she was like ‘I wish they taught Korean instead’,” she says.

Her daughter is also now asking to go to Korean restaurants instead of her usual favourite, which is Japanese.

“I think it’s great that something that’s a bit of a counter culture has reached such mainstream popularity,” McLeod says.

“I hope that it has opened the door for other genres.

“It’s wild that my anglo-Australian child is into K-pop, I love that so much.”

Additional reporting by Leah Hyein Na from SBS Korean.