This film got a limited theatrical release. It's an animated musical that got a special, sing-along edition that's playing in cinemas for the fans of it. This film was first made available on Netflix back on June 20, 2025. It didn't take that long for a large fan-base to build. The streaming service saw incredible numbers in terms of viewership. Reportedly, within a month, it had become the platform's most watched original animated film of all time. After nearly two months, the film had reportedly become Netflix's second-most popular, English-language film, having been viewed over 210 million times. For the weekend of August 22, the film achieved number-one status in the domestic box office. The film is obviously a hit. There is some talk that it could be considered for Best Animated Feature at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards. One of the reasons for the sing-along release is due to the success of the soundtrack, which is the first film soundtrack to chart in the top ten of the Billboard 200 of 2025. It was also the most-streamed soundtrack in over three years.
It's about a female trio named Huntr/x or Huntrix who live in South Korea and are a pop group. Often, in a film about a fictional music act, there's a high suspension of disbelief about the music act being popular. Turning Red (2022) is a recent example of there being a fictional band that has to be accepted as being popular. This film, co-directed by Chris Appelhans (Wish Dragon) and co-directed and co-written by Maggie Kang, a storyboard artist for The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017) and Puss in Boots (2011), doesn't need that high suspension of disbelief. This film actually has the proof that the band or bands herein are indeed popular. The Netflix numbers and the Billboard numbers prove that this fictional music act actually is a hit.
As this film opens, there's a backstory or legend that's basically table setting. That legend feels very similar to that of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), which was about a person inheriting a responsibility and a power that allows them to fight and eliminate monsters that come from a portal to the underworld. That 1997 series focused on one girl named Buffy and that portal was called the Hellmouth. Here, this film focuses on three girls: Rumi, Mira and Zooey. Yet, it's clear that Rumi, voiced by Arden Cho (Chicago Med and Teen Wolf), is the main character, as she is the lead singer in Huntrix. Similarly though, the portal to the underworld is called the Honmoon. In the 1997 series, Buffy had to work to keep the Hellmouth closed, so vampires didn't overrun California. Here, Rumi, Mira and Zooey have to work to keep the Honmoon closed, so all kinds of demons don't overrun Korea.
If you were a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then you know Buffy fell in love with a vampire named Angel who had a soul. Here, we discover that Rumi has a love interest who is a demon named Jinu, voiced by Ahn Hyo-seop. Jinu also is supposed to have a soul. Yet, calling what occurs between Rumi and Jinu a romance might be pushing it a bit. The relationship between them isn't really building to them bering boyfriend-girlfriend but rather just good friends. Boyfriend-girlfriend vibes could be inferred, especially because the filmmaking is by Sony Animation, and its rendering looks akin to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and the objects of desire being done to emphasize their sex appeal.
Rumi, Mira and Zooey as Huntrix are the most popular music act in all of Korea. They have a legion of fans who fill stadiums to see them. Those fans don't know that Huntrix fight demons. They physically fight demons with weapons like swords or knives. Each girl has their blade choice. However, their inherent magic gives them certain powers, which helps them to fight, but the reason they sing is because their voices and songs keep the Honmoon sealed, which acts as a shield or barrier to keep the demons from entering the human world and stealing people's souls. This is also the opposite of the legend in Ryan Coogler's Sinners (2025), which purports that certain music attracts demons. Here, Huntrix's music repels demons.
The demons come up with a plan. They decide to create their own pop group, a boy band named the Saja Boys, which is akin to BTS. The Saja Boys attempt to steal Huntrix's fans. With no fans, Huntrix wouldn't have the ability to sing to huge stadiums, which amplifies their magic to maintain the Honmoon. Therefore, the Honmoon would be weakened and allow the demons to break through. The Saja Boys don't also steal fans, but they also distract Huntrix with their sex appeal. All the Saja Boys are incredibly handsome and the film emphasizes that sex appeal, their beautiful eyes, great hair and overly chiseled abdominal muscles. Jinu is of course gorgeous and that is very much underlined.
A lot of the comedy rises from the Huntrix girls knowing the Saja Boys are demons in disguise as hot guys but also being attracted to them because they're hot guys. A lot of the drama rises from the fact that Mira and Zooey can resist their attractions and are mostly annoyed, but Rumi doesn't resist. She secretly meets with Jinu and gets to know him. Just as between Buffy and Angel, there's a level of sympathy for the devil. For Rumi and Jinu, there's also a level of sympathy and shame that both of them feel and share. A theme emerges of overcoming one's shame and being proud of who you are. This theme though presents questions about the characterization about Rumi.
Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!
Comparing this film to Buffy the Vampire Slayer might not be totally accurate. The comparison might be to Blade (1998), which is about someone who is half-human and half-vampire. Rumi is also a hybrid. She's half-human and half-demon. If the film is about identity and being proud of who you are, then it begs the question if Rumi should be proud to be part demon. The film reveals that Jinu and a lot of demons are being controlled or intimidated by a bigger bad guy called Gwi-Ma, pronounced GEE-MA, voiced by Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game and The Magnificent Seven). Does that mean that the demons are not bad? If they're simply under the gun of Gwi-Ma, Huntrix killing them all becomes questionable. This film doesn't have Rumi really reckon with that. If her father is a demon, the film doesn't have her reckon with what she would do if she ever confronted him. Would she kill him too? It doesn't even go near as to how her mother became impregnated with a demon baby in the first place? Buffy the Vampire Slayer reckoned with these ideas and kinds of questions, this film doesn't.
Of all the song thoughs, "Takedown" is probably the best. "Takedown" is the diss track meant to undermine the Saja Boys but is then cleverly used against Rumi at the end. The second best is "Free," the duet between Rumi and Jinu. I wasn't impressed with any of the boy band stuff. Saja Boys' stuff felt too generic and bland.
Rated PG for action, violence, scary images and brief language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 39 mins.
Available on Netflix.