Three girls with real personalities and flaws who are pop stars by day and demon hunters by night…Have they been spying on the kind of stuff my sister and I screen write with our Barbies? Again, I only heard about this film through our youngest brother. So I watched the trailer, looked at what people were saying, and convinced Jubilee to watch it with us since our brother was already down. My first thought was Buffy The Vampire Slayer meets KPOP Barbie. I wasn’t far off. Now, many people are apparently saying this film was promoting demonic forces and Christians shouldn’t watch it. I will get into what we thought about those criticisms and if they were indeed legit. First, let’s talk about what the movie was actually about since it was inspired by Korean mythology. Warning of Spoilers. 

The Setup: If you are unfamiliar with the term KPOP, it literally means Korean pop music. I had never heard the term before, but I could guess what it was. The only Korean band I know is BTS. I’ve heard the same songs of theirs played over and over again on the radio and I had a co-worker who was into them. The movie is a musical, not just to be one but because it plays a part in the plot. 

In every Generation, three girls are chosen to be Hunters and defend the world from demons through singing and fighting. While they use weapons, they sing to sustain a magical barrier the very first Hunters created which keeps the demons at bay. The film makes it clear that singing was a part of every generation of Hunters dating back to the 1950’s and before.Today, the three Hunters are a famous KPOP group known as Huntr/x and they intend to seal away the demon world forever with a special performance that will put a final seal on the barrier.  

Rumi is the leader of the group and is keeping the secret from her friends that she is really part demon. Mira is moody and temperamental yet chill. Zoey is full of enthusiasm and eager to please. She is also the only Korean/American. 

Gwi-Ma (the Korean Devil basically), wants a way to destroy the Hunters before they complete the final seal. One of his demons, who used to be human, Jinu, proposes the idea of rivaling the girls’ success with an evil boy band. In this world, demons feed off the souls of humans and they intend to do so with Huntr/x's fans. 

What we liked about it: All three of the main characters felt like real girls with all their little quirks, personalities and flaws. None of them were the stereotype “good girl” (a lie told by modern media where the character is praised for being perfect but is far from it in their actions) or “Mary Sues” (invincible for no reason other than they’re female so everything, including relationships, is easy to obtain). As a result, they were all likeable, relatable, and entertaining. Lately, literature and television have forgotten how real women act or think and it has made them incapable of writing good female characters most of the time. Women are either feminist jerks, sleazy Mary Sues or just plain Mary Sues. It was also refreshing to see three straight female friends. I believe this is one of the reasons the movie was such a hit. Because it was an attempt at a Korean animated film, although it was made in America, the creators, thankfully, didn’t bother with checking politically correct boxes. We’re tired of having a political agenda pushed on us. Just make a movie because you had an inspired story to tell. This movie certainly did that. Three Korean pop stars slaying demons to music is pretty original. 

 -The animation was also stunning, being done by the same people who did Into the Spiderverse. The action sequences, character designs, and dancing choreography were all very well done. 

-Most of the music was very catchy, and I liked how they paired the songs with action sequences or pivotal scenes in the film. All the songs were also linked to the characters’ unique points of views and what was going on in the story. The songs the main girls sang weren't simply meaningless pop songs. They actually applied to their lives as Hunters and their struggles. I appreciated this. The Soda Pop song the evil boy band sings when they first appear was forgettable the moment after I heard it. I only remembered one line, “My little soda pop.” After my sister played it two times to annoy me, the words started to stick more.   

-The world in the film is also very interesting and full of potential. This also became a flaw, as I’ll get into soon, because they didn’t explain things enough or flush out the possibilities. Although, I hear they’re already looking into making more since it was so popular.

-The film was also a straight up Good vs. Evil with chosen heroes. I’ve heard people say they’re tired of this, it’s been done too much, but this film proved the public wants more things like this. So, while my sister and I have been told some of our stories are too common or familiar to preexisting works, the people seem to think differently. 

Things about the Plot and Character development that needed improvement: 

1. Rumi’s relationship with her Mentor. 

The Hunters have a trainer/mentor, although we barely see her in this film or with the girls except in a couple flashbacks. She used to be one of the Hunters that came before them and she was friends with Rumi’s mother who was also a Hunter. In the present day, however, she is never seen with the girls, training them or otherwise. She also told Rumi that her father was a demon, but never explains how that happened. The demons in the film are all grotesque and troll-like, other than Jinu and his boy band who were once humans. It leaves the audience to question, how did Rumi’s mother have a relationship with a demon? You might say they can answer this in a sequel, but it really would've helped the plot and explained a few things to have done so in this film. I’ll elaborate on why. 

-Rumi’s mentor tells her to keep the markings that show she’s a demon covered at all times and not tell her friends. Her mentor hates demons so much, we learn towards the end  of the film that she can barely stand the sight of Rumi. It’s a dramatic scene when Rumi comes to her brokenhearted after the dark night of the soul moment (the part of the story where everything goes wrong) and demands to know why her own mentor couldn’t love and accept her. Her mentor gives no answer. So, instead of leaving us wondering, since they went there, it would have been better to explain what happened with Rumi’s mother in greater detail. Maybe her mother was seduced and killed by a humanoid demon so her mentor can’t look at her without thinking of the creature that killed her friend? Bringing this in sooner could've also helped in leading Rumi to feeling isolated and running to Jinu for help like she does. 

2. Rumi’s relationship with Jinu: 

-The whole movie Rumi is afraid because she’s part demon and she can’t tell her friends for fear they’d turn on her since they kill demons. As the film progresses, she starts to lose her ability to sing due to her demon markings growing. Jinu learns she’s part demon when they’re fighting and her sleeve rips. He covers the marks on her arm with a piece of his own clothing so her friends won’t notice. This was supposed to be a moment where Rumi wonders, “Why would he do that for me?” But it’s kind of weak. They should've just had him save her life, giving her a more legitimate reason to question his behavior. 

-After this, Jinu sends her letters to meet up and talk because he knows her secret. He sends them via a very large cute Cheshire cat who’s OCD to things being out of order (we never see the cat fight, although it apparently serves Jinu who serves the devil, or an explanation as to where it came from and if it’s a demon too). To her credit, Rumi only goes to meet him the first time in order to kill him but the sly dog gets her to let him talk. Jinu wants to know how a Hunter can be part demon but Rumi won’t tell him. He doesn’t understand why she can’t hear Gwi-Ma’s voice in her head like he does. He tells her he basically sold his soul hundreds of years ago to get his family out of poverty. She doesn’t trust him and he leaves. He keeps sending her letters which she doesn’t reply to, but then she starts asking her friends if it’s possible for a demon to have feelings or be good. She also meets with Jinu again and tries to convince him to switch sides. I understand that Rumi is looking for validation since she’s part demon and if Jinu can’t be saved she wonders if she can, but the plot doesn’t drive her to Jinu the way it should.

-Jinu’s demon boy band is still taking countless souls during this time. Rumi needs to be desperate to go to him instead of anywhere else. Her friends do say demons are evil and there’s no such thing as a good one, but there isn’t a specific moment where that leads Rumi to think she has no one she can talk to but this bad guy. As I mentioned earlier, if her mentor had rejected her sooner and she’d brought up Jinu to her friends and they shot her down, then it would make sense for her to go to him.

 -Rumi should also be angry at Jinu that so many souls are disappearing when she visits him a third time, but she’s not. They ignore that and instead sing a love song. I liked the song but it felt unmerited. One of the lines is, “Why do I feel like I can tell you anything?” That’s an easy question to answer: Because you don’t see me often enough to hold you accountable or deal with you all the time. It’s like a man having an affair who says it’s easier to talk to his lover than his wife. Of course it is–she only sees you in secret and doesn’t have to deal with all your problems or flaws. It’s freeing for the moment to have something forbidden, but the consequences and reality will catch up to you eventually.    

3. Jinu’s Character. 

Newsflash, Jinu lied about his past. He didn’t sell his soul to get his family out of poverty, he sold it so he could live abundantly. He left his mother and little sister to starve while he lived in a palace due to the beautiful voice Gwi-Ma gave him. This is fine as a villain backstory, but I’ve heard people saying things about the character that don’t make any sense. Viewers are trying to defend Jinu’s actions and say he’s really not a bad person. Their arguments don’t hold up. 

-In the movie, Gwi-Ma keeps making Jinu relive the memories of what he did to his family. Jinu agrees to get rid of the Hunters with the whole boy band idea as long as he can have his memories erased because they make him feel bad. People are saying because Jinu feels bad about his actions, he must be a good person. This is not true. In Luke 18, the rich young ruler is sad after speaking to Jesus because he’s just been told what he has to do to inherit eternal life. He doesn’t change, he just feels bad because he loves his wealth more than God. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death." There is no indication Jinu is repentant. He does not turn away from sin. He merely doesn’t want his conscience bothering him all the time because he knows he did wrong. Everyone has a conscience (Romans 2:14-15), this doesn’t make him a good person. 

-Another defense given for Jinu is he was once human so he’s not all bad like the other demons. There are multiple problems with this. First of all, humans cannot become demons. Demons are fallen angels. Demons are all bad. There is no salvation offered to them. For the sake of this film, just like with Vampires and Werewolves, we’ll pretend Jinu selling his soul to become a demon means something else. Secondly, being human doesn’t make you good. According to the Bible there are two kinds of people: those who are children of God and those who are children of the devil (1 John 3:10). You either have been redeemed and belong to God or you are still by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2). 

-What does it mean to sell one’s soul? As a Christian I must elaborate on what I believe about this. I mentioned earlier that you either have been made a child of God or you are still a child of the Devil. There is no need to sell your soul to the Devil when you already belong to him. I had a discussion on this with my sister at length and we came to an idea of what that phrase must mean in the context of fiction in order to be Biblically accurate. I don’t know when the idea of signing a contract of your soul over to the Devil first began, but there is no such thing as a person that God cannot save. God is sovereign. He saves who He wills. However, there are people He lets go their own way and does not save. 

With Vampires, my sister and I believe the origin harkens back to Jesus’ words, “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mathew 16:26) Meaning, what good does it do you if you have everything in this life if it sends you to Hell? Vampires give up their humanity (their soul) to have forbidden pleasures. This only makes sense to me if God allowed them to do so. They are no longer human, their pleasures metaphorically sent their souls to Hell. With Jinu, we are supposed to believe he’s still part human so he is not beyond reach because he sacrifices himself in the end to save Rumi. In the context of the film, selling his soul seems to mean he’s forced to serve the devil in a greater way than before.   

-This still leaves questions because Jinu just breaks Gwi-Ma’s hold on him by the power of love, I guess. Rumi says she wanted to “save him” and he replies, “you already did. You set my soul free.” I’m not sure how she did this within the context of the story. How does him developing feelings for her release his soul from Gwi-Ma? In real life, people can be a conduit God uses to awaken someone, but nobody truly saves anyone spiritually.

-Also, Jinu says he gives his soul to her and her sword grows bigger. It isn’t explained if his soul went into her sword or what? Jinu also doesn’t do anything in the end fight scene. He simply remains on stage while the girls fight the other boy band members and several demons. It was a cool scene, but it would’ve been better in my opinion if he’d had a full on fight with Rumi before turning good. Even Darth Vader gets to fight Luke before just standing there at the end while the Emperor hurts him. Jinu scuffled with her prior but they didn’t really fight.  

-Another thing that wasn’t clear was why Jinu lied to Rumi about his past in the first place? He wanted her to trust him, but why? After their last meet up Rumi thinks he’s going to change and help her defeat Gwi-Ma at the Korean music awards show. Jinu fakes a fight with his band so Huntr/x goes on first to perform. Jinu has demons lure Rumi’s friends away during the performance while she’s singing. Other demons pretend to be her friends and expose her markings on stage. Jinu already knew about Rumi being part demon so he could’ve done this same plan without her needing to trust him. Was his original plan simply to get her to join the dark side and it didn’t work? Or did he want her to be more ready to accept the idea of her friends betraying her when he had demons pretend to be them? I wasn’t sure. So when Rumi confronts him after the show and it’s implied he lied to her in order to use her, we didn’t know what he really used her for.

-Lastly, the other demon boy band members also look like Jinu. So, are they part human too? Did they sell their souls as well? Because the Hunter girls have no problem killing them. 

4. Was it demonic and not suitable for Christians? 

Opinions will vary on this, but my sister and I have talked about it a lot because in her children’s book she has demons. Some Christians say we shouldn’t write or read things with demons in them. If that was the case we wouldn’t read the Bible. This movie had demons in it, but they were not portrayed as harmless or good. Only Jinu, who was part human, did something good in the end. I think the film did a disturbingly good job of showing how human beings are led astray by their lusts and idol worship. 

-The demon boy band was the main example of this. They are supposed to be five attractive looking men (though my sister and I found them to be creepy and unreal looking). When the Hunter girls first see them they are starry eyed (not Rumi until she sees Jinu who looks the most human). If the guys are taken to be bodily representations of lust, then I understand the message. Women desire them for their looks and people begin to basically attribute worship to them because they like the way they look and sing. I thought the way they were animated was a grotesque portrayal of male pulchritude, the same as when male animators distort the proportions of female bodies. 

-The song they sing at the end called, “Idol,” we interpreted as humanity’s sin singing to those under its sway. Their music starts with a seemingly harmless number like “Soda Pop” and then switches to this, showing how quick and harmful a descent into idolatry is. The song literally opens with “pray for me.” It mentions how the demon boys will keep you obsessed with them even if it drives you to misery and emptiness. They say you will have to hide the pain and shame they bring. They say no one can save you. Another line is, “You gave me your heart, now I’m here for you soul.” It was, as I said earlier, disturbingly accurate to the state of fallen mankind. It simply used KPOP stars to demonstrate this. And, honestly, the way celebrities' names are screamed at concerts does feel like worship. This kind of adoration should be reserved for God alone. I think the movie was not condoning the worship of pop stars but using them as a warning to whatever your idol may be. My sister compared the “Idol” song to “The Screwtape Letters” where C.S. Lewis takes on the narrative of the enemy. The Hunter girls do kill the demon boy band in the end so I also took that as them killing the sin the demons had brought out of them.  

5. One last observation. 

Rumi is fighting against her demon half the whole movie and afraid of not being accepted by those closest to her, but in the end she just accepts it’s part of her and moves on. This is a very modern thing, to simply love yourself and accept who you are. Well, if her demon markings are representative of something bad (like sin) then shouldn’t she still hate it and continue to fight against its power over her?

-Her mentor also said that Rumi’s markings would disappear after they sung their big number and sealed away the demon world, but she still has them after. So, was it wishful thinking on the part of her mentor, or did Rumi decide to keep them?

Overall, I enjoyed the film, liked the main characters, and most of the music. I even look forward to a sequel. Although, I’m careful when I watch things with demonic or incorrect messages. It’s not to say you can’t watch films with demons and magic, but I always try to assess them through a Biblical lens.