006 | K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025): Adoption on the Big Screen
Breaking Netflix streaming and box-office records, and charming the critics, podcast journalist Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer go all-in on summer 2025's breakthrough hit, K-Pop Demon Hunters. Clever humor, catchy tunes, and storylines exploring shame and generational trauma, the Huntrix girls and the ladies of Adoption Pop! show how adoptee-resonant storytelling is really done done done.
K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) was written by Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, and Chris Appelhans, and directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.
This episode aired on January 14, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:
According to Spotify, the song "Golden" from the K-Pop Demon Hunters Soundtrack has been streamed more than 1 billion times on the platform.
Jeremy Fuster wrote, "'KPop Demon Hunters' Becomes Netflix's First Box Office No.1 With $18 Million Weekend," for The Wrap (August 24, 2025): https://www.thewrap.com/k-pop-demon-hunters-netflix-box-office-no-1/
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as a couple who goes through a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Correction: On Episode 005 of Adoption Pop!, Kristal referred to Sex and the City: the Movie as "a s*** movie." She has since called this comment "too aggressive," and has softened her stance to "strong dislike." (But she's still wrong about it being better than K-Pop Demon Hunters).
The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.
We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Cultural critical Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com, on Instagram, and on Substack.
