K‑Pop Demon Hunters has broken a record for Netflix, earning the highest combined critic and audience score ever for an original production on Rotten Tomatoes.
The animated action fantasy-musical currently has a 96 per cent critic rating together with an 85 per cent audience rating, setting a new benchmark for the streaming platform’s original content.
Released on 20 June, K‑Pop Demon Hunters is directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, and features a voice cast led by Teen Wolf’s Arden Cho and popular K-drama star Ahn Hyo Seop, along with May Hong and Yoo Ji Young. The supporting voice cast includes Kim Yun Jin, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Squid Game’s Lee Byung Hun.
The plot follows a popular K-pop girl group, HUNTR/X, made up of Rumi (Cho), Mira (Hong) and Zoey (Yoo) who lead a double life as popstars by day and demon hunters by night.
Their powers stem from their music, which maintains a barrier that protects humans from soul stealing demons. The band’s mission, which has been passed down generations, is challenged when a rival boy band led by Jinu (Ahn), the Saja Boys, turn out to be demons intent on collapsing the barrier.
According to global streaming analytics site FlixPatrol, K‑Pop Demon Hunters has been dominating international charts since its release. As of 25 June, the film ranked at No 1 in Netflix’s movie category in 41 countries, including top markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Portugal, the US, and the Philippines.
After its premiere, the movie topped Netflix’s global movie charts for four consecutive days, steadily expanding its reach, beginning with 17 countries on the first day and climbing to 41 within just four days.
Kang revealed in an interview with Forbes that the Saja Boys were inspired by top K-pop boy bands like BTS, Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, BIGBANG, and Monsta X, with Astro’s Cha Eun Woo and actor Nam Joo Hyuk serving as the visual inspiration for their leader Jinu.
The members of HUNTR/X too were referenced from real-life pop groups such as Itzy, Blackpink, and Twice, with Korean model Ahn So Yeon inspiring the fashion-forward Mira.
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Fans on social media have been comparing the film’s characters to their favorite pop idols, sharing side-by-side images and speculating which real-life stars inspired each member of HUNTR/X and the Saja Boys.
“It’s fun to see this conversation happening because everyone’s picking the right member who fills that archetype and that kind of role and looks for each group,” Kang told Forbes.
Kang also cited BTS’s 2020 virtual concert during the Covid pandemic as a key inspiration, saying it demonstrated how music could unite people and transcend cultural boundaries, one of the more central themes in the film.
“There was this moment where things were pretty grim,” Appelhans told Entertainment Weekly. “You had BTS on the rise, and they were doing these virtual concerts. It was affirming this feeling that music, in its own weird way, is a counterweight to darkness and bad stuff.”
Music plays a crucial role in the film as well, with some of the biggest names in K-pop behind the soundtrack. Producers like Teddy Park of THEBLACKLABEL, who have worked with Taeyang and Blackpink, and Grammy winner Lindgren, known for collaborations with BTS, Twice, and global pop stars such as Dua Lipa and John Legend, helped craft original tracks for the film.
Grammy-nominated Stephen Kirk and songwriter Jenna Andrews, both of whom have strong ties to BTS and other major bands, contributed, along with executive producer Ian Eisendrath, whose background includes Broadway and popular TV shows.
One of the movie’s most popular songs is “Takedown”, performed by Twice members Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Chaeyoung, while the Saja Boys’ infectious debut track “Soda Pop” has gained attention for its slick choreography and nods to classic K-pop boy band tropes.
Fans are already clamoring for a sequel, creating their own fan art and sharing theories about where the story might go next, especially around unresolved plotlines and character relationships.
“Never a bad song in this entire movie. absolute cinema. Give me a TV show with 15 season and 24-hour long episodes, 27 sequels and prequels and graphic novel,” one fan wrote on X.
“It so obvious that K-Pop Demon Hunters is written by a woman because only true girlies know that girls actually genuinely act like this around each other,” said another.
