Parents are becoming concerned about the rising popularity of a new Netflix movie, KPop Demon Hunters. Here’s what we found out about it and why we think parents should think twice about allowing their kids to view this movie or listen to the soundtrack.
First, for those who don’t know what the movie is about, it’s an animated fantasy film directed by Chris Appelhans and the story’s creator, Maggie Kang. The plot is based on the existence of demons who prey on humans in order to feed their souls to their ruler, Gwi-Ma. In order to combat this fiend, three women became demon hunters and used their singing voices to create a kind of magical barrier named Honmoon to protect them against the demons. This barrier is continually strengthened by new trios of hunters who work to strengthen it into the Golden Honmoon, which will have the power to banish demons permanently.
Fast forward to the present when the latest trio of demon hunters, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey – whose band is known as Huntrix - take up the battle. Unknown to anyone but the woman who raised her, Rumi is half-demon and secretly hides the tell-tale demonic patterns that are growing on her skin from the other members of her band. Sensing that time is running out, she pushes for the release of a song called “Golden” that she hopes will bring about the Golden Honmoon.
Meanwhile, in the demon world, Gwi-Ma is growing more and more enraged by the power of the Honmoon. He selects five demons, led by a former human named Jinu, who form a band called the Saja Boys to encroach upon Huntrix’s popularity. Jinu became a demon hundreds of years earlier when Gwi-Ma agreed to give him a beautiful singing voice in exchange for helping his family to overcome poverty. However, just like in the real world when people sell their souls to the devil for some momentary profit, Gwi-Ma turns on Jinu and condemns him to the demon world, causing Jinu to forever live with the guilt of his actions.
The Saja Boys are successful and eventually weaken the Honmoon, but Jinu and Rumi find common ground in their shame and unite to sabotage the boy band. After many plot twists and turns, they bring about a glorious victory for the demon hunters.
Since it began streaming on Netflix in June, 2025, it has become the most watched original title in Netflix history with 325 million views. Its sing-along theatrical release became the first to top the U.S. box office. A sequel is already in talks.
Christian and even Catholic reviewers are raving about the film for what they see as its positive messaging.
For example, Plugged In reviewer Kennedy Unthank sees Rumi’s gradual acceptance of the truth of who she is – a demon – as “a positive reminder for kids and adults alike that the only way to escape shame is to expose the flaws or failures we’ve been hiding” and that these faults need not define who we are. Of course, there’s a basic flaw in this reasoning that makes such a position untenable – being a demon – even a half-demon - is much more than a fault; it’s a state of being. Reducing the demonic to a fault is a gross misrepresentation of the truth.
Another argument waged in favor of the film is that the very popular song that is sung by the Saja Boys, Your Idol, although filled with what this reviewer calls “religious temptations” is okay because in the context of the film, audiences see this band as villainous. While this is a valid point, and can certainly make a difference in the mind of child, it doesn’t negate the need to pay attention to the lyrics which are overtly demonic.
For example, the opening lines of the song are:
Pray for me now Pray for me now, pray for me now (dies irae illa) Pray for me now, pray for me now (vos solve in favillam) Pray for me now, pray for me now (maledictus erus) Pray for me now, pray for me now (in flammas aeternum) I'll be your idol
The translation of the Latin phrases at the end of each verse is chilling: “A day of wrath that day, you will be burned to ashes, you will be cursed forever, in eternal flames.”
Other phrases in the song are equally problematic, such as “Keeping you obsessed. . . I am the only one who will love your sins . . . Yeah you gave me your heart, now I’m here for your soul. . . Watch me set your world on fire . . . you can't look away . . . No one is coming to save you.”
This might be sung by characters who are obviously demons in the movie, but do we really want these lyrics streaming through the heads of a reported 316 million people who have downloaded this music, many of them being children who are singing it in the schoolyard?
In addition to the above, this author explains that the film also contains references to Korean shamanism such as the Honmoon, which is a belief that protection from evil spirits can be brought about by ritual songs. The soul-eating demon, Gwi-Ma, is a spin-off of the Korean god of death, Yomra Daewang. The name of the boy band, Saja, comes from Josung Saja, Korea’s Grim Reapers. Even the norigae pendants worn in the film are Korean talismans believed to offer protection and embody feminine wisdom.
While many consider the film to be harmless because of its basis in Korean folklore and mythology, demons are demons, regardless of whether they are pagan or based on the Christian ethos.
Most of the parents commenting on Facebook about the largely positive Plugged In review, praised the film, but many others were quite vociferous in their condemnation of the film.
As this mother said, her children “don't need to be exposed to secular demonic foolishness repackaged with glitter and unicorns to get a good life lesson. It's a cop out and I wish Christian parents would take spiritual warfare more seriously. It's not ‘harmless’. It's carefully curated to introduce young minds to the occult. Period.”
“I love the songs, but I don’t agree with how the mom is human and dad is demon,” another mother said. “And now this girl is half demon and supposedly good when that is not the case in real life and that demons are real and they’re making it seem that demons can turn good. . . I think it’s meant to confuse people and do it slowly. To make demons less scary. To desensitize us.”
These commenters seem to be the few who have not become victims of the densensitization of evil that has been promulgated by our entertainment industry for decades. This desensitization along with a general lack of education on the subject of evil renders them unable to see this film for what it is - just another version of Satan’s favorite ploy of disguising himself as an angel of light by mixing in just enough truth to make the evil seem “not so bad” or even to be “delivering a surprisingly Christian message.” He’s clever and knows exactly how to do this by appealing to human senses through sensational cinematography and powerful music scores seasoned with a few tidbits of what seems like Christian morality just to throw you off. He’s a master at this game and those who remain uneducated on the subject are dangerously disadvantaged.
In this Ask A Priest Live, podcast,Father Paul Born of the Archdiocese of Boston was asked about whether or not children should watch the movie. Admitting that he had yet to see it, he posed several crucial questions about the film – and any other questionable film - that could help parents decide if they should allow this movie into their homes.
“Is the movie portraying anything positive about occult activity?” he asks. “Is it making light of occult activity? Is it attributing power to fight demons with powers that are not holy? Is it leading those who know the faith away from the faith, or those who do not know the faith into error because it does not promote the absolute good vs absolutely evil, or does not tend in the direction of being able to show people the truth of the gospel? Is it using symbology and the like that can be tantalizing for someone who is uninitiated to begin to play with demonic powers?”
Clearly, KPop Demon Hunters violates almost all of the above parameters. It promotes the use of unholy powers such as the shamanistic Honmoon to fight evil; the half-demon Rumi uses the same powers against the demons as the demons use against her, which turns the moral order of absolute good vs. absolute evil on its head in the minds of a child and/or the un-catechized, thus leading them away from the truth; it uses tantalizing symbology to make playing with demonic powers appear attractive to the uninitiated.
We concur with Father Born’s concluding advice. If it’s a matter of letting your children watch this movie, “Steer clear of it and err on the side of caution.”
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