(Image created with OpenAI’s ChatGPT)
My kids have been playing K-Pop Demon Hunters on repeat this week, and as I have watched and rewatched it, I have been struck by the films surprising spiritual depth. While the film is not a Christian film, its themes still resonate with Biblical truths especially regarding the nature of demonic warfare and the possibiliy of redemption. At the same time the film falls short by focusing on the character’s self-realization rather than salvation and transformation in Christ.
- Moral Clarity and the Seductive Nature of Sin
One of the most refreshing aspects of the movie is how clearly it portrays evil. The demonic forces are not misunderstood or ambiguous; they are destructive, deceptive, and opposed to all that is good. In a culture that often blurs moral lines, this clear-cut portrayal of evil is very welcome
The film also masterfully portrays how sin operates—not primarily through brute force, but through seduction. Nowhere is this more vividly expressed than in the haunting lyrics of the song “Your Idol.” This song is a masterclass on how temptation works and how sin entraps.
The first lie of sin is that we must hide—our pain, our shame, our failures. Rather than turn outward toward God for mercy, we are tempted to turn inward, burying our guilt, isolating ourselves, and pretending we’re fine. As the song puts it:
“Don’t let it show, keep it all inside / The pain and the shame, keep it outta sight / Your obsession feeds our connection / So right now give me all your attention”
This perfectly captures what shame does—it silences us, draws us into secrecy, and ultimately deepens our bondage. But Scripture calls us to something radically different: honest confession and the freedom of forgiveness.
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long… Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity… and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:3, 5)
Another lie is more subtle, but perhaps even more deadly: that the tempter—the enemy of our souls—is the only one who truly understands us as we truly are. Satan whispers not just enticement, but false comfort:
“You know I’m the only one who’ll love your sins / Feel the way my voice gets underneath your skin”
This is eerily close to how temptation often feels: like a false friend who “gets” us and affirms our worst instincts. But in truth, sin never loves us. It feeds on us.
“Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10)
The song’s false promise of freedom is perhaps its most diabolical twist:
“I will make you free / When you’re all part of me”
This is the slavery of sin masquerading as liberation. It promises autonomy and empowerment, but only if we give ourselves over entirely. The Bible is clear that sin enslaves:
“They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for ‘people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.’” (2 Peter 2:19)
“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’” (John 8:34)
And ultimately, sin doesn’t just want part of us—it wants to consume us:
“Yeah, you gave me your heart, now I’m here for your soul”
This chilling line is perhaps the most honest in the song. Sin is never satisfied. It demands our hearts and then devours our souls. But where sin seeks to destroy, Christ came to save.
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
2. The Hope of Redemption — and the Power of a Grace-Filled Song
While K-Pop Demon Hunters rightly portrays demonic forces as truly evil, it doesn’t abandon hope for those ensnared by darkness. The film gives Jinu—a demon who once betrayed his family and during the film betrays Rumi—a redemption arc. Though he begins as a deceiver, he ultimately sacrifices himself to help defeat the greater evil.
This redemption happens because Rumi, the lead singer and protagonist, refuses to give up on him. She sees the good still buried within and believes he can be restored. Her grace and persistence become the turning point in his story.
This theme powerfully reflects the heart of the gospel. Jesus came not for the righteous, but for sinners—traitors, failures, and outcasts. He offers grace even to those who feel beyond saving. As Paul writes:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.”
(1 Timothy 1:15)
One of the most moving scenes in the film comes when Rumi rewrites a diss track—transforming it from a song of bitterness into one of compassion and hope. She changes these lines:
“When your patterns start to show
It makes the hatred wanna grow outta my veins”
Into:
“When your patterns start to show
I see a pain that lies below”
This act of grace rewrites the narrative. Rumi chooses empathy over vengeance. Her lyrics become a bridge, not a barrier. This beautifully echoes the biblical call to bless rather than curse, and to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:14–21).
Rumi understands that the real enemy is not the person but the darkness behind them. As Paul reminds us:
“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness…”
(Ephesians 6:12)
Jinu is not just a foe to be destroyed—he’s a soul in need of redemption. And that is the Gospel: hope for even the most broken, healing where there was once betrayal, and new life springing from unexpected places.
3. Shame Isolates—But Everyone Has Demons
Rumi hides her flaws and inner demons—even from her friends, even from those closest to her. She fears being exposed, being seen as weak, or as a liability to the team. This shame leads her to hold back, to disconnect, to retreat into herself. At one point, it even literally takes away her voice.
But as the story unfolds, we see a powerful truth: every character has their demons. And when the other members of the band become ensnared by their own guilt and shame, Rumi finds the strength to break free, stop hiding, and embrace her full complexity.
Ultimately, the film shows that sin and shame thrive in the dark, but healing begins when we bring our brokenness into the light.
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
—1 John 1:7
Some of the lyrics in the song What It Sounds Like powerfully resonate with this truth, particularly this anthemic chorus:
“We’re shattering the silence, we’re rising, defiant
Shouting in the quiet, ‘You’re not alone’
We listened to the demons, we let them get between us
But none of us are out here on our own
So we were cowards, so we were liars
So we’re not heroes, we’re still survivors
The dreamers, the fighters, no lying, I’m tired
But dive in the fire, and I’ll be right here by your side”
I love this realization: we do not need to be perfect heroes to be accepted or to fight darkness with power and truth. In fact, it’s precisely our ability to shatter the silence and cry out “You’re not alone” that becomes our most powerful act of resistance and love.
But while the film beautifully affirms that healing comes through honesty, vulnerability, and solidarity, it occasionally stumbles in how it portrays the reconciliation of “darkness” and “light.” There’s a subtle implication that our demons are not so much evil to be resisted or defeated as misunderstood aspects of ourselves to be accepted.
This idea is emotionally compelling—but spiritually hazardous.
The gospel doesn’t teach us to make peace with our sin or trauma, but to bring it to Christ who can heal, forgive,, and transform us. We are not called to reconcile with our demons, but to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24), to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12).
Even so, the film lands close to this truth in one of its most redemptive lyrics:
“I should’ve let the jagged edges meet the light instead
Show me what’s underneath, I’ll find your harmony”
In Christ, we let our jagged edges meet the light. Not to be celebrated in their brokenness, but to be healed and made whole. We find harmony—not by embracing darkness—but through redemption, reconciliation, and new birth in the light of the gospel.
4. The “Gold Honmoon” — A Beautiful but Christless Hope
The film’s vision of the golden honmoon — a thousand years without demons — echoes the biblical promise of a renewed and peaceful kingdom.
In K-Pop Demon Hunters, this era is portrayed as the culmination of personal and collective growth, a time when humanity has finally achieved inner harmony and rejected demons.
But as beautiful as that hope is, it is ultimately incomplete.
The Bible does not teach that the world will be healed through self-mastery or personal enlightenment, but when Christ returns in glory to conquer sin and death once and for all.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
— Revelation 21:4
It is the victory of the Lamb who was slain, (Revelation 5:12), rather than the triumph of human resiliance that makes all things news and ushers in a new heaven and new earth.
So while K-Pop Demon Hunters diagnoses the evils of sin, it falters by failing to offer a solution that can truly deliver us. The film’s resolution implies that if we just accept ourselves and fight for each other, we can usher in a new age of peace. This places the weight of salvation on our own shoulders.
In contrast, the gospel tells us that God alone brings salvation. We are not saved by our light but by His. As the prophet Isaiah declares:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… For to us a child is born… and the government shall be upon his shoulder… and of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.”
— Isaiah 9:2, 6–7
Rather than looking inward or simply aiming to “go up, up, up,” the gospel turns our eyes upward to the one who went up on a cross for our sins.
Rather than trying to “glow” in our own strength or live “like I’m born to be,” let us worship the One who gave us life and laid down His own for our redemption. Only in him can the golden honmoon become a reality.