The demons don’t think so. Their ruler, Gwi-Ma, has corrupted mortals before and thinks he’s found the perfect tool to bring these girls down: an infernally inspired boyband. What follows is an epic clash between good and evil, and a surprisingly layered exploration of how both are a part of human nature.
The Devil in the Details
Before we continue, it’s probably best to address the titular antagonists of this film and the muddy worldview surrounding them. KPop Demon Hunters wears its Korean influences on its sleeve and it turns out they have affected more than just the movie’s aesthetics. The ancient Korean conception of a demon is not a fallen servant of a righteous God, but a broad category encompassing everything from malevolent manifestations of nature to the anguished souls of those who lived evil lives. It may sound strange to conflate nature’s wrath with what Westerners might call ghosts, but from the perspective of Eastern spiritualism, everything in existence is really just the same oneness taking on different forms, like water as ice, liquid, or gas. With no heaven or hell in this worldview, death is just another change of shape and an immoral person who passes may transform into a tormented spirit who roams the earth.
The impact of that worldview on this film is that the categories of the demonic and those held captive by sin have been confusingly blended together. Some of those labeled as “demons” in the movie are actually what Christians would call lost souls—conflicted people trapped by sin. Others fully live up to the ‘demon’ label, gleefully serving the Luciferian Gwi-Ma with no implication of a prior life as a human. If we parse this as an erroneous overlap of demonic and human realities, it does imperfectly reflect the power God has given Satan over this world (1 John 5:19) and the various kinds of lost image-bearers who fall under his influence. Thankfully, the film avoids the mistake many Eastern-inspired stories make when they argue that evil has something that good lacks or that good needs evil to exist. In this story, the demonic has no redeeming qualities, even though particular characters labeled as demons might. While not using biblical terminology correctly, this idea of battling demons essentially becomes a way for the film to talk about battling sin and the challenges that come with it. One of these challenges is separating sin from sinner, and that’s something this movie explores at length through its protagonist Rumi.
A War Within
We learn early on in this story that Rumi’s father was a demon and this fiendish heritage has plagued her all her life. Despite doing good and successfully hiding this complicated history from her friends, she’s never been able to expunge the magical patterns in her skin that show anyone who sees them that evil lives within her. While Christianity would not describe our heritage as demonic, we are told in Scripture that we are just as infected by evil as Rumi is, going all the way back to humanity’s original sin in the garden (Romans 5:12). It’s relatable, then, when the pop star sings about this inner battle in the song “Golden”:
Waited so long to break these walls down
To wake up and feel like me
Put these patterns all in the past now
And finally live like the girl they all see
Unfortunately for Rumi, it becomes increasingly clear that she can’t keep up false appearances and that this inner darkness is starting to affect her music. This has implications for more than Huntr/x’s popularity. The Honmoon barrier that protects ordinary people from the demons’ soul-consuming power is strengthened or weakened based on whatever songs are captivating the fans. In this way, the battle for hearts and minds in pop culture is shown to really be a battle for souls, which definitely mirrors a biblical perspective (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
These high stakes push the bandmates to pen the spiteful track “Take Down” attacking their opponents, but lyrics like “a demon with no feelings don’t deserve to live” hurt Rumi as much as the competition. This should remind Christian audiences of how even true statements about real evil can do more harm than good if not properly tempered by love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Ultimately, this tension between covering up and condemnation leads to the pop star distancing herself from her friends and looking elsewhere for answers. Rival band leader, Jinu, is more than willing to offer judgment-free help, though his worldview may do more harm than good.
Infernal Embrace
Jinu has been under the thumb of the demon lord Gwi-Ma ever since he took a deal that traded family bonds for fame and glory. It’s a decision he’s long lived to regret, but with no way to undo this fateful choice, he serves his master hoping to one day have the memory of his sins erased. This pattern of temptation followed by subjugation also plays out in the music of Jinu’s band, the Saja Boys. First, they introduce themselves to the public with the flirty song “Soda Pop” which has women (including Mira and Zoey) swooning. Then, after they manipulate Huntr/x into breaking up, they meet the audience at their lowest with the villainous song “Your Idol”:
Keeping you in check, keeping you obsessed
Play me on repeat, endlessly in your head
Anytime it hurts, play another verse
I can be your sanctuary
Know I’m the only one right now
I will love you more when it all burns down
More than power, more than gold
Yeah, you gave me your heart, now I’m hеre for your soul
I’m the only one who’ll lovе your sins
The film’s real-life songwriter, EJAE (who also voices Rumi), revealed that these lyrics draw on her Christian upbringing, and the Christian concept of how evil draws people into obsession. “[I] remembered it’s a sin to idolize something,” she said to Forbes. “So I thought being an idol and being obsessive wasn’t the best thing, so I wrote that into the lyrics.” This chilling track resonates with the crowds so potently that it allows Gwi-Ma to rip right through the Honmoon. He then goes around whispering condemnations into each person’s ears, telling them that they’ll never be more than their sins, so they might as well embrace the demonic as their identity. Rarely has Satan’s role as the accuser (Revelation 12:10) been portrayed so well. There’s only one thing that can overcome such darkness: Truth.
Defeating Our Demons
With nothing left to lose, Rumi makes the difficult decision to expose her demonic patterns to her friends and beg for their forgiveness. This revelation shocks Mira and Zoey, and they realize that their decision to demonize everything touched by evil nearly cost them their friend and put those they’d sworn to defend in jeopardy. “We listened to the demons,” they sing, “we let them get between us. But none of us are out here on our own.” Rumi’s honesty about her shortcomings leads them to open up as well, and with a deeper level of friendship forged, they reunite to defeat the demon lord.
All of this highlights how a commitment to both the truth and to relationships is vital to defeating sin. Honesty is critical to exposing darkness, as Rumi points out in song, “I should have let the jagged edges meet the light instead.” However, this honesty must meet with a biblical love that is quick to forgive as we have been forgiven (Colossians 3:13) or else healing cannot occur. Even Jinu finds himself touched by this unconditional love, and boldly sacrifices himself to defeat Gwi-Ma. While the self-sacrifice of a sinner is no substitute for our Savior’s, this act does line up with the biblical idea of forfeiting everything for the sake of saving your soul (Matthew 16:25-26).
It’s hard to find themes more Biblical than the ones presented in KPop Demon Hunters. That’s not to say that this film handles these ideas perfectly, as it does conflate mankind with demons in ways that could be confusing for younger audiences, and it implies that human forgiveness is enough to absolve sin. Much like its protagonist, though, this story is more than its flaws and artfully shows discerning audiences how honesty cripples darkness, forgiveness trumps condemnation, and love conquers all.