A Brutally Honest Kid’s Review of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

Over the past year or so, the most popular recurring feature on ScreenCrush by a fairly wide margin has been a series of movie reviews co-written by one or both of my daughters. When a big studio releases a film for children (and the press screening isn’t too late in the evening on a school night) I bring them along, load them up with popcorn and Icees, and then record whatever conversation emerges organically from the film on our trip home from the theater.

I love doing these pieces because I genuinely love hearing my kids’ perspectives on movies, and also because they’re a lot easier on my stomach than eating a Fantastic Four pizza with four different flavors on a single pie. So far, we have only “reviewed” theatrical movies, but the film my oldest daughter is most into right now is Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, a buzzy animated feature about a trio of Korean pop stars who use catch music and magical weaponry to battle demons from an alternate dimension. (It’s currently the #2 most-watched film on all of Netflix.)

My daughter watched KPop Demon Hunters once without me and enjoyed it so much she asked me to watch it with her. Said daughter is nine years old and never wants to do anything with me, so I said yes immediately. After the film ended (and after my daughter watched every KPop Demon Hunters trailer on Netflix — because, she explained, she “loves trailers,” even for things she literally just watched) we discussed her favorite characters, why bugs are bad, whether Netflix should make a sequel or a prequel to the film, and, most interestingly to me, whether my daughter prefers movies in a theater to movies at home. I’ll be honest, her answer to that question surprised me a little.

You already watched this once without me?

Yeah.

You weren’t scared?

No.

Seemed kinda scary to me. Lots of demons.

Nah. I love the end, when they’re like [starts singing] “We broke into a million pieces…”

Are you going to start a girl group with your friends?

No.

Are you gonna fight demons with your friends?

I want to fight demons.

Yeah? That part appeals to you more than being a pop star?

Okay, being a pop star sounds like fun.

So you’ll do both.

I like to kill.

You … like to kill?

Mmmhmm.

What have you killed that you liked to kill?

Bugs!

READ MORE: Two Kids Give Their Honest Review of Pixar’s Elio

You’re going to be a KPop Bug Hunter.

And demons.

KPop Demon/Bug Hunter.

No, just demons! [pause] But I also kill bugs.

Why are you so bloodthirsty about bugs?

Because I hate bugs! They’re the worst part of the world.

Weren’t you just recently telling me how daddy long-legs eat mosquitos?

But if there are no mosquitos, then what would the point be?

There are no mosquitos because of the daddy long-legs!

[talking to me like I am the biggest moron on the planet] If the mosquitos weren’t there, you wouldn’t need daddy long-legs.

Fair enough. I do hate mosquitos. I would be a KPop Mosquito Hunter. Mosquitos should be eradicated from the planet.

Dad. Mosquitos are important. Frogs eats flies and mosquitos. Frogs are eaten by other animals that are bigger and are sometimes apex predators. And if we lost the apex predators, the prey population would go off the charts. Things need to be in balance.

Interesting. Well you’ve seen it twice now. Do you still like it?

Yeah, I love it.

Why do you love it so much?

I feel like the message is good. You don’t have to hide things. It’s okay to be yourself, even if you’re different.

What if you’re a demon, though?

[sigh] Okay, one: Demons aren’t real. Two, it’s still okay.

Good news for the not-real demons. What if I’m a demon?

Unless you try to eat my soul, I’m good.

Have you ever listened to any K-pop? 

What?

Have you ever listened to other K-pop music? Did you know that K-pop is a type of music?

No.

Does me telling you this make you want to listen to some K-pop?

Yeah, a little.

Okay. 

[singing] “I hope you’re ready for the takedown…”

Who was your favorite character?

Zoe.

Why do you like her?

She has a lot of funny lines. [imitates Zoe] “You’re totally my type! Oh well!” [swings imaginary sword] 

She was funny. She’s the comic relief.

And her clothes are super cute. She would make a really good LOL doll.

She would make a good doll, you’re right.

All of them would.

Yes, I’m surprised they don’t have dolls made of them already.

They’re probably making them now. [singing] “I hope you’re ready for the takedown…”

Perfect.

They could be talking dolls! You touch their weapons to their chest and they talk.

Do the dolls sing too?

Yeah. And they should all sing a different song. The one with the purple hair, I forget her name…

Rumi?

Rumi. She could sing “Golden” and then Zoe could sing the first song. And then the one with the pink hair could sing “Takedown.” [singing] “I hope you’re ready for the takedown…”

If you could be any character, I take it you would want to be Zoe?

Yeah.

Which character would I be?

Um…

Are there any characters like me in this movie?

Uh, there’s the agent guy.

The band’s manager? [Bobby, voiced by Ken Jeong] He reminds you of me?

Yeah.

Why is that? Because he’s weak and ineffectual?

Uh huh! Wait, what does ineffectual mean?

He’s not very good at anything.

[laughs] Yeah, he’s you. No no … he’s pretty good at managing.

Am I good at managing things?

Yeah, you’re a writer. You write things all the time.

What does that have to do with managing?

[shrugs]

Fine. As long as the evil demon god didn’t remind you of me, I’m happy.

You’re not a big scary evil demon.

Well that’s good.

And you’re not like the main demon guy either.

You’re talking about the leader of the demon boy band now?

Yeah.

Wait, why am I not like that demon?

You haven‘t made big mistakes in your past.

Ah, thank you. I thought you were going to say I don’t have cool hair or something.

Oh yeah, you don’t have cool hair. And you can’t sing.

I can’t sing? Are you saying I can’t sing? How dare you.

You can’t sing like pop music. Try to sing “Soda Pop.”

Like a song about Coke? [bad singing] “Just for the taste of it … Diet Coke!”

Stop! Oh my god. You’re so hard to please.

I’m sorry.

No you’re not.

You’ve seen the movie twice now; are there any parts you don’t like?

Nah, I like most of the parts.

Should they make a sequel?

Of course they should.

What should the sequel be about? They got rid of all the demons. Now they’re just K-pop artists. They have no one to hunt. Unless they pivot to mosquitos.

The demons should somehow come back.

Oh. So they hunt more demons.

Yeah, and try to seal their dimension for good this time  and — Oh! No! Next they should make a prequel.

A prequel, wow. What would the prequel be about?

The guy — the boy demon’s backstory.

That’s a good idea. I like that.

And then another prequel should be about the girls’ past.

How do you know about prequels?

Dad, you told me.

Oh.

Do you like KPop Demon Hunters better than the other movies we’ve watched lately? How does this compare to How to Train Your Dragon?

Eh, they were both pretty good.

What about Elio?

Elio, ehhhh…

This was better than Elio?

Yeah, definitely.

Why is that?

Because Elio is about a little kid that meets aliens.

What’s wrong with that?

It’s not about K-pop stars that hunt demons.

So you like the premise better of this one.

Yeah. [pause] Does premise mean like…?

The basic idea. The idea is more appealing?

Uh-huh.

Well, you did say you like killing things before. So there was not enough murder in Elio for your taste?

Daaaad! You know I was joking.

Oh, sorry.

Too bad there isn’t a Broadway show of KPop Demon Hunters.

It might be a little tricky to do some of those special effects on stage, don’t you think?

Elphaba flies on stage in Wicked.

That’s a good point. All right, I guess they could do it then.

I have one more question for you. This movie we watched at home. You can only watch it at home. It’s not playing in the movie theater. Would you have liked it more if we had watched it in a theater?

Yes!

Do you like watching movies better in the movie theater or at home?

Movie theater.

Why’s that?

Because you get popcorn and drinks and they have reclining chairs and it’s on a ginormous screen.

All true. Now: What if you could see this movie in a theater, but I said no popcorn or drink? Would you still want to go or would you rather just watch it here?

[thinks] You didn’t say no candy, so I’ll pick the theater.

You got me there. Okay: No popcorn, no candy, no nothing.

No air?

You can have air! But no popcorn, no snacks. What’s your pick?

I would probably still want to go.

Is there any difference between a movie that plays in a movie theater and a movie that’s at home?

Difference in, like, the movie?

Yeah.

Not really.