K-pop Demon Hunters

Age recommendations: 9 and up (In my opinion girls will enjoy this movie more)

Summary: The K-pop girl group Huntrix, led by Rumi, is a viral song group in Korea. However the girls are more than they appear to be. When they sing their voices unite the hearts of the fans to power the Honmoon, the demon barrier. Without this demons would ravage the earth and humanity would be destroyed. The ultimate goal is to create the Golden Honmoon, or an unbreakable barrier that will lock the demons in the demon realm forever. However tensions arise when Rumi’s voice starts to fail her in the most critical moment, right before the Golden Honmoon is sealed. This is when the demons launch a plan to destroy Huntrix in the way no one expects: they launch a demon boy band to steal the hearts of the fans.

My review: I quite enjoyed this movie, and found it so much better than most of the movies coming out. The girl group, made up of three besties, is a good feminine dynamic, and they are not lying to you about how girls act. They do fight the demons who break out of the demon realm, but they do it like girls. They are not trying to be masculine. They are very emotional, in the way girls are but it's not overly done. In a scene at the end after they have been all girl bossy, the girls start to cry together. It was sweet, kind of touching, and accurate. After having them be total girl bosses, they end up crying about being scared of losing each other. Another thing I liked was the fact that in the movie shame and sin was a real thing that was seen, and then dealt with by acknowledging it and not ignoring it. Yes, it was not from a christian perspective, but it could easily have been brought into one, and could start some interesting discussions with older ones. The characters mess up, and in the end the moral isn't “I’m perfect, I just needed to believe in myself, everyone else was the problem” it was: "Yeah I messed up, I really did that, And it really was bad, and it was really my fault. I’m sorry.” Only when the character recognized their sin could they move past it. (For the record I don’t think Rumi ever directly apologized, but it was recognized that she was sorry.) One last thing: the demon king was a surprisingly accurate devil depiction. He used your shame to lure you in, and then turn on you. The movie does a good job of making something look good, and appealing, and pretty, but then having it turn into something really horrible and bad. Also the movie is quite funny. And there is a blue tiger inspired by Korean mythology and he is absolutely amazing! I love him!

Quote: “Every snowflake is special, but one is probably the best.”

Concerns: Intense scenes and plot, the girls wear crop tops, the demons are slashed up and very clearly hated. Heavy plot and theme.