K Pop Demon Hunters is riding high on a wave of accolades, including recognition from the New York Film Critics Circle, and this growing momentum is strengthening its prospects for the upcoming Academy Awards.
On December 3, the New York Film Critics Circle announced its winners, with the Netflix original K Pop Demon Hunters earning the Animation Award, following additional honors at IndieWire’s Winter 2025 Awards.
As the oldest critics’ organization in the United States and a well known bellwether for Oscar outcomes, the Circle’s recognition has significantly amplified industry buzz around the film as a strong contender for Best Animated Feature next year.
The film also captured the Spark Award at IndieWire’s Winter 2025 Awards, where the outlet praised it as a cultural phenomenon, noting its rapid ascent on Netflix’s Top 10 chart and Billboard’s Hot 100.
IndieWire highlighted its dynamic animation and the popularity of its theme song Golden, co written by K pop hitmaker Lee Jae, framing the movie as an underdog story that reshapes expectations of box office success. The production’s awards campaign began earlier with a win for Best Song in an Animated Feature at the 2025 Hollywood Music In Media Awards.
With multiple triumphs already secured, K Pop Demon Hunters is now aiming for nominations in both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. It has earned a place on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shortlist of thirty five eligible animated films and remains in contention for Best Original Song.
Its theme song Golden continues to make waves, receiving five Grammy nominations including Song of the Year in the General Fields category at the sixty eighth Grammy Awards, marking the first time a K pop track has achieved this distinction.
The film follows the adventures of HuntRix, a K pop girl group who battle the Lion Boys, a boy band made up of five malevolent spirits, blending music and fantasy in a way that has captivated audiences worldwide.
In other awards news, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another won the New York Film Critics Circle’s Best Film Award, its second major accolade following recognition at the Gotham Awards, while Jafar Panahi received Best Director for It Was Just an Accident, an especially poignant honor given the filmmaker’s recent imprisonment in Iran.
