It would be rare to meet a primary school student or teenager who didn’t know about Huntr/x. It’s a fictional Korean girl pop group that sings and performs, and also hunts demons, from the accurately named film KPop Demon Hunters. And if you thought that Swifties were intense, you’re about to come face to face with a whole new breed of fans. 

In the first months of its Netflix release, KPop Demon Hunters claimed the title of most-watched Netflix animated original film of all time, clocking almost 250 million views. There have been more than 3 billion global streams of hit song ‘Golden’ across all platforms, with the rest of the soundtrack not that far behind. 

Women protecting the world through song

Korean folklore tells stories of women who use songs and rituals to ward off evil spirits. This is the modern version of that, told through the music and performances of K-pop girl bands and boy bands. The girl band, Huntr/x, fights demons and unites humanity with their music. The demons try to overcome them by becoming a boy band, battling to attract humanity through their incredibly catchy music. 

As the demon male band Saja Boys grows its fanbase, their master, the King of the Underworld, grows in strength and power. Through song, Huntr/x seek to protect humans from coming under the influence of the Saja Boys, and stop the King of the Underworld from gaining power. 

However, the lead singer of the girl band has a secret—she is half-demon, and tries to hide this from others. She also finds herself in love with the boy band demon. The film explores her wrestling with her identity, haunted by her half-demon heritage. 

Intentionally watching (and singing along) with your kids

If this is something your children want to watch, I would recommend watching it with them. There are lots of gospel themes that can open up intentional conversations. 

My general approach is not to shelter my children from the world, but allow age-appropriate exposure in order to help train them to critically filter what they consume. Even if I didn’t allow my child to watch, it’s such a worldwide phenomenon that they would come across it in the playground anyway. In fact, as I sit here writing this, I can literally hear the music playing at the local school down the road to signal the end of lunch. It’s everywhere. I want my kids to have a Christian world view and also be equipped to be in the world. 

There are varied opinions about whether Christian families should be watching KPop Demon Hunters. If you do choose to watch it, or your family are already fans, then I pray you use it as an opportunity to shape your children’s world view and remind them of the good news we have in Jesus. Hopefully the following discussions around its key themes help you to do just that. 

There are several questions you could ask your children as you watch:

• What does this movie teach us about good and evil?
• How is it similar or different from what the Bible teaches us?
• What difference do you think knowing Jesus would make to these characters?

Themes to tackle with your family

Demons

The film can be scary and dark, but not so much that it made me want to turn it off. The cartoon animation helps keep KPop Demon Hunters from feeling too frightening, and makes it feel more like fantasy than anything based on real life. That could be a positive or a negative, depending on your personal taste. I personally don’t have an issue with the acknowledgement of demons if they’re presented as evil and not glorified.

There is some gore. Demons do get chopped in half, and their heads sliced off. But again, the cartoon animation makes it feel less intense and more palatable, although this could be considered scary for younger viewers.

Some things worth noting:

• The demons are victims of the King of the Underworld.
• The audience is encouraged to feel empathy for the main demon male.
• Rumi, the lead singer of Huntr/x, begins to believe that demons must be really good but stuck in sin. There is always a reason and excuse for their sin, which pretty accurately represents how society views sin. 
• The demons lie to humans, telling them their sin is so bad that no-one will accept them. ‘I’m the only one who can love your sin’, says Gwi Ma, the King of the Underworld and master of the demons. Gwi Ma translates to evil and ghost in Korean, and originates from the Korean word magwi, which translates as demon. 
• Evil is presented as plainly evil, and good is plainly good. When both main characters are confused about their identity, it is clear which side is the right side. 

Shame

There is a major theme of shame that runs through the film, stemming from Rumi’s identity as a half-demon. She believes that she is too bad to be loved, and works tirelessly to try and fix it herself. 

This shame is a heavy burden and ruins her relationships as she puts up more and more walls in her effort to hide the truth. ‘The more I try to hide my shame, the more it grows’, she sings. Eventually, she begins to recognise that it needs to be brought into the light, singing, ‘We can’t fix it if we never face it’.

The solution to shame presented in the film is to accept your faults. Rumi sings, ‘I see the beauty in the broken glass’. However, as Christians who have experienced the justifying work of the Cross, we know we need to bring our sin into the light—not as an act of acceptance, but in order to give it over to Jesus. 

We don’t hide our faults, but we don’t rejoice in them either. Instead, we value repentance over tolerance. Freedom comes only through Jesus and the forgiveness he’s already brought us. This is a great gospel conversation opportunity. 

Pop culture and our choices

Throughout the movie we also encounter themes of forbidden love, physical attraction between the bands, the glorification of pop idols, and the use of social media in influencing youth culture. All of these themes offer talking points we can have with our children.

But in the end, whether families decide to allow this in their homes or not, I do think we ought to feel confident in the decisions we make knowing that Jesus is Lord and holds the hearts of our children. 

If we use this movie, and others, as an opportunity to teach, we can do so knowing that Jesus has already determined the steps of our children, and will use many moments throughout their lives to point them to him. They are safe within his hands. 

And if we choose not to allow it, we can do so knowing that we are raising our children to be ‘aliens’ in this life because they belong to another. As citizens of heaven, we don’t need to fear missing out now, because we know this world is passing away. So feel confident as you share the vision with your children of what is to come. 

We have freedom in Christ. So make faithful decisions, and trust that God will use everything for his glory. Even the K-pop songs that get stuck in your head. All. Night. Long. 

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Leah is a Children’s Minister by trade, a mother of four, and a proud Sydney Anglican. She is the founder of Raising Disciples where she shares ideas and resources on how to disciple children within the home.

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