The massive Netflix streaming sensation of 2025 — and the presumptive favorite to win the upcoming Academy Award for Best Animated Feature of the year (because apparently we’re just handing these things out now) — has joined the most exclusive club in all of cinemadom. Yes, the same club that probably wouldn’t let your film school thesis project through the door unless it was shot on expired film stock and featured at least three references to French New Wave cinema.
The animated musical, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, follows a trio of pop stars who moonlight as super-powered warriors who protect the world from the demonic forces of evil. With beautiful imagery and earwormy pop songs, Kpop Demon Hunters became an almost immediate sensation when it first debuted on Netflix back in the summer, and it has remained one of the streamers most popular titles ever since — even after Netflix put it into the theaters on a limited basis two different times in sing-along versions. Because apparently watching animated K-pop idols slay demons once wasn’t enough; we needed to do it while butchering the lyrics in public.
Founded in 1984, the Criterion Collection is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious labels in the world of home video, as well as one of the gold standards for visual and audio quality on laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD. With new titles added every single month, there are now over 1300 movies in their collection. That’s right, 1300 films that people pretend to have watched at dinner parties to sound cultured.
There aren’t too many animated films, though. Previous animated offerings from Criterion include Fantastic Mr. Fox, Watership Down, Fantastic Planet, Journey to the Beginning of Time, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, WALL-E, Pinocchio, Flow, and Isle of Dogs. Notice anything about that list? Every single one of those films is something your film professor would force you to watch at 8 AM while questioning your life choices. Meanwhile, Kpop Demon Hunters is what happens when you let TikTok and anime have a baby that somehow got into Harvard.
At least according to Criterion’s website, that’s it; just 9 titles out of more than 1300. That’s… kind of shockingly low! I mean, come on, Criterion — where’s Toy Story? Where’s The Lion King? Where’s that direct-to-video Balto sequel that only three people have ever seen? The animation bar is apparently set so low that Flow — a movie about a cat surviving a flood — somehow made the cut, but not a single Studio Ghibli film. Nice priorities, guys.
Per Variety, Kpop Demon Hunters is not the only recent Netflix hit that’s joining the Criterion Collection: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is getting a Criterion edition as well. Six other del Toro films are already in the Criterion Collection, including Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, the aforementioned Pinocchio, and Nightmare Alley. There are almost as many Guillermo del Toro movies in the Criterion Collection as there are animated features. At this rate, Criterion should just rename itself “The Guillermo del Toro Appreciation Society Featuring Occasional Other Movies.”
So congratulations to Kpop Demon Hunters for transcending its origins as a Netflix algorithm’s fever dream to join the hallowed halls of Criterion. Your parents, who still don’t understand what you do for a living, can finally tell their friends that your work is now in the Criterion Collection. And if they ask what Criterion is, just tell them it’s like the Hall of Fame, but for movies that make people feel superior at wine tastings. 🍷🎬✨
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
