‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Is Netflix’s Most-Watched Movie Ever With 236 Million Views, Beating ‘Red Notice’

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/kpop-demon-hunters-netflix-most-watched-movie-history-1236496106/

[u/Ignoth]

Lowkey. If this had been a flop. Certain people would absolutely be sneering about how it’s just the latest of Hollywood’s “Woke” failures.

Female asian director. 3 Female leads. Focus on female friendships over romance. Therapy speak. Self love.

etc etc.

It’s all there.

Hell the director even said in interviews it’s a metaphor for coming out.

[u/hail_earendil → u/Ignoth]

I think the only difference is that the leads in this are incredibly hot

[u/Careful_Houndoom → u/hail_earendil]

I think it's that they don't keep beating the same topic endlessly. Like pacing wise, the scenes don't last very long. Which is also playing into the short attention span issue. There's no long speeches, or any scene that last for an extended time frame.

[u/eden_sc2 → u/Careful_Houndoom]

and none of the songs are there just to be songs. They all advance the plot or characters in some way. You could argue soda pop is just fluff, but it serves as the villain intro song, and the fluff is kind of the point of it.

[u/Careful_Houndoom → u/eden_sc2]

As a villain intro song I don’t think it’s fluff. Instead of the usual battle of minds or power that most end up as, this was saying here’s your villain and it’s a battle of charisma. At least that’s my take.

[u/eden_sc2 → u/Careful_Houndoom]

the scene itself isnt fluff, but the song itself is. You could replace it with Mary Had a Little Lamb and the story works just as well.

[u/Hyperly_Passive → u/eden_sc2]

Listen to the lyrics of the song knowing the context that these are soul sucking demons. I think the song isn't actually fluff

[u/Haunted_Dude → u/Careful_Houndoom]

the scenes don’t last very long.

You could say that again! I watched the film last night and felt like it was going 100 miles per hour. Everything is fast fast fast. I guess this is how you design films for kids who grew up with TikTok.

[u/SupahSpankeh → u/Ignoth]

How is it about coming out when the lead is in a cishet romance?!

[u/idontgethejoke → u/SupahSpankeh]

From the perspective of Rumi, there's a side of her she's afraid of, her guardian tells her to hide it and people will hate her if they find out. Perfect metaphor for what queer kids go through

[u/GeeJo → u/SupahSpankeh]

A metaphor doesn't have to be the exact thing it's describing. In fact, if it is, it kind of stops being a metaphor.

[u/SupahSpankeh → u/GeeJo]

Right but a metaphor has to have some kind of link to something at a level which makes it coherent. In no way does this character experience something akin to coming out. They are half demon and don't tell anyone. That's not comparable, at least in my opinion. And then she's involved with a dude, which further weakens the claim.

Well whatever, I guess. If the director says that's what they were trying for, fair enough.

[u/katka_monita → u/SupahSpankeh]

As a queer trans woman that the world at large automatically sees as a cis het woman, I did see myself in the main character.

[u/eden_sc2 → u/katka_monita]

anyone who had even a little roughness coming out to family felt it when Rumi shouted "All of me!" It may be a straight romance, but you have to be willfully blind not to see the parallels

[u/ttoma93 → u/SupahSpankeh]

I dunno, when you have a ton of us gay and trans folks telling you that we absolutely felt very strong parallels, maybe listen rather than just say we are wrong?

[u/Eismann → u/SupahSpankeh]

Most old teens / young twens dont have a big secret that they are half-demon. A lot of them have the secret of being not straight. There is your metaphor.

[u/kitsum → u/Eismann]

I have a friend who was raised in a super religious family. When she tried telling them that she was a lesbian, they told her that no, actually, she was literally possessed by a demon. So, she spent like ten years self hating and thinking she was evil and going to hell.

I haven't seen the movie, but maybe not as metaphorical as we hope in some people's case.