KPop Demon Hunters Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

KPop Demon Hunters Blu-ray Movie Review

Seoul's on fire.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 29, 2026

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans' surprise smash hit KPop Demon Hunters is a stylish 2025 animated film that Sony unwisely pawned to Netflix before it went on to massive worldwide success, resulting in a later "Sing-Along" theatrical release, tons of merchandise, and an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to its nominations and award wins, which include the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. While the sheer level of its success may have been totally unexpected, perhaps even more surprising is that KPop Demon Hunters has now earned a spot in The Criterion Collection alongside their other rare animated entries like WALL•E, Flow, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. This one's got better songs, though.

And more junk food.

Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) spend their days performing sold-out concerts as the Korean pop group "Huntr/x", recording hit songs, connecting with devoted fans, and (hopefully) taking a much-needed break from touring for some quality couch time. Behind the scenes, however, the three young women use their musical talents and supernatural abilities to protect humanity from demons. This girl group's ultimate goal? To strengthen the Honmoon, a mystical barrier that separates the human world from the demonic realm. By harnessing the power of their music -- including the massive success of their latest hit, "Golden" -- and the fierce devotion of their audience, the trio hopes to make the barrier permanent and prevent demons from threatening humanity again.

Their mission becomes much more complicated when the Saja Boys, an irresistibly charming rival boy band, burst onto the K-pop scene on the strength of their latest single, "Soda Pop". Led by the mysterious Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop), this hot new group immediately captures the public's attention, which threatens Huntr/x's popularity as well as the supernatural balance that protects their world. What initially appeared to be a playful rivalry between competing musical acts soon reveals a far more sinister purpose: the Saja Boys are actually demons in disguise and slaves of the powerful demon king Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun), who seeks to weaken the Honmoon and gain access to human souls.

As Huntr/x struggles to maintain their chart dominance while confronting this growing threat, Rumi has been facing a more personal challenge: carrying a secret bound to her own demonic heritage, the lead singer wrestles with questions of identity, belonging, and self-acceptance. Her fear of revealing the truth threatens her confidence as well as the trust she shares with Mira and Zoey. Meanwhile, Jinu's own complicated past introduces an unexpected emotional layer to the conflict, suggesting that the line between "human" and "monster" may not be as clear as it seems.

With the fate of both worlds hanging in the balance, the three friends must confront their deepest fears and discover what truly makes them powerful. Their journey tests the strength of their friendship, challenges the expectations placed upon them as performers, and forces them to reconsider whether their separate missions should be solely defined by eliminating everything they fear... or simply by trying to understand what makes them different.

If you're the parent of a kid under the age of 18 (or just love animation), you probably didn't need that plot synopsis since KPop Demon Hunters dominated Netflix during 2025. It's since become that platform's most-watched original title to date, perhaps mirroring Huntr/x's own level of chart dominance in the film while firmly reminding audiences -- and regretful Sony executives -- that viral success can and will come from anywhere. The film itself is a clear winner: even with its slightly patchy script and all-too-familiar story beats, KPop Demon Hunters is fully loaded with stylish visuals, well-placed comedy, heart, action, and of course great songs, which makes it a reliably entertaining experience that's easily enjoyed by the whole family. Criterion offers two home video options: a 4K/Blu-ray combo pack and this stand-alone Blu-ray edition, both of which offer very solid A/V merits and a decent assortment of extras.

KPop Demon Hunters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As usual, a general overview of the film's visual aesthetic can be found in my review of Criterion's 4K/Blu-ray combo pack. This stand-alone Blu-ray edition of KPop Demon Hunters will be good enough for those with more modest setups or who are primarily picking it up for the kids, as its serviceable 1080p/SDR transfer most certainly gets the job done and will likely outpace anything seen during your average Netflix stream. Fine detail is perfectly good on this native 2K presentation, preserving the film's stylish character designs and backgrounds which run the gamut from shadowy and muted to bursting with color. While this Blu-ray presentation obviously can't compete with more robust, precise, and attractive palette of its UHD counterpart, viewers will still be treated to a vivid and eye-catching presentation as these direct-from-disc screenshots suggest. It's really only during those sporadic scenes with Gwi-ma and other supernatural sequences where the color differences can really be felt; otherwise, most of the (perhaps inevitable) "shortcomings" of this 1080p presentation will only be obvious in a direct comparison. The disc encoding seems perfectly good and ample breathing room means that it runs at a high and supportive bit rate within format boundaries, and no clear signs of banding, compression artifacts, or macro blocking could be spotted along the way.

KPop Demon Hunters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Since this stand-alone Blu-ray edition features the same Dolby Atmos audio as the mix found on Criterion's 4K/Blu-ray combo pack, please see that linked review for more information.

KPop Demon Hunters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc Blu-ray set includes a collection of bonus features that are 100% identical to the preferred 4K/Blu-ray combo pack; all are listed below but they're fully detailed in my review of that version.

DISC ONE - BLU-RAY MOVIE DISC

• Lyric Videos

• How It's Done (3:04)
• Soda Pop (2:52)
• Takedown (3:09)
• Free (3:14)
• Your Idol (3:15)
• Golden (3:21)
• What It Sounds Like (4:42)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:32)

DISC TWO - SUPPLEMENTS

• Animatic (95:27)

• KPop Demon Hunters: The Journey (48:59)

• How It's Done: The Airplane Sequence (11:52)

• Song & Story (13:26)

KPop Demon Hunters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans' KPop Demon Hunters was the surprise animated hit of 2025, absolutely dominating the charts on Netflix and invading just about every house with kids inside. Mine was one of them and I had no problem enjoying the show (multiple times, of course), as its copious amounts of action, humor, music, and supernatural fantasy made it an easy film to enjoy. The mere fact that we have KPop Demon Hunters on physical media is great enough, but both new home video options from Criterion -- who rarely tackles animation or mainstream movies -- are one of this year's most unlikely but welcome surprises. Sporting solid A/V merits, several interesting extras, and great packaging, either one is a no-brainer for anyone who wants a copy of their very own. Highly Recommended.