Truly 'Golden' Globes: 'KPop Demon Hunters' wins best song, animated film at prestigious awards

Netflix’s hit animated film “KPop Demon Hunters,” directed by Canadian filmmaker Maggie Kang, won two awards at the Golden Globes, taking home Best Motion Picture — Animated as well as Best Original Song — Motion Picture for its anthem “Golden”

Rei Ami, left, EJAE, center, and Audrey Nuna attend the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on Jan. 11, in Beverly Hills, California. [AFP/YONHAP]

Netflix’s hit animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025), directed by Canadian filmmaker Maggie Kang, won two awards at the Golden Globes, taking home Best Motion Picture — Animated as well as Best Original Song — Motion Picture for its anthem “Golden,” during the 83rd edition of the annual Golden Globes held Sunday at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

Songwriting honors for “Golden” were awarded to a seven-person team: Kwak Joong-gyu, Lee Yu-han, Nam Hee-dong, Seon Jeong-hoon, Park Hong-jun, Kim Eun-jae and Mark Sonnenblick. All are listed as co-creators of the track, with credits spanning both the music and the lyrics.

“When I was a little girl, I worked tirelessly for 10 years to fill one dream, to become a Kpop idol, and I was rejected, and disappointed that my voice isn’t good enough,” said Kim, also known as EJAE, as she accepted the award according to Variety magazine. “I’m so glad to be part of a song that is helping other girls, other queens and everyone of all ages to get through their hardship to accept themselves.”

“I can confidently say rejection is redirection,” said EJAE, according to Pitchfork magazine.

EJAE arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Jan. 11, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. [AP/YONHAP]

The film was nominated in three categories at the Golden Globes: Animation, Original Song and the Box Office Achievement award. It won the first two but lost the box office award to Ryan Coogler's “Sinners” (2025).

For Original Song, “Golden” edged out several heavyweight nominees, including two Stephen Schwartz-penned selections from “Wicked: For Good” (2025): “No Place Like Home” (2025) and “The Girl in the Bubble” (2025).

“Thanks to the Golden Globes and everyone who believed that a movie so deeply rooted in the Korean culture would resonate with global audiences,” said director Kang. “Through this film we really wanted to depict female characters the way that we know women, which is really strong and bold, really silly and weird and really hungry for food... and sometimes a little bit thirsty.”

The Golden Globe victory follows the animated film's best song win for “Golden” at the Critics Choice Awards earlier this month.

The film tells the story of a fictional K-pop girl group, HUNTR/X, who uses their music to fight evil spirits and save the world.

Actor Lee Byung-hun, who portrays Man-su in director Park Chan-wook's film ″No Other Choice,″ is pictured in this still image. [CJ ENM]

Meanwhile, director Park Chan-wook’s satirical black comedy “No Other Choice” (2025), the only Korean film nominated at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, failed to secure a win in any of the three categories in which it was short-listed. It lost to thriller “The Secret Agent” (2025) for Best Non-English Language Film and to “One Battle After Another” (2025) for Best Film in Musical or Comedy.

Lead actor Lee Byung-hun, who became the first Korean actor to be nominated for Best Actor –– Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes, lost to Timothée Chalamet's portrayal in “Marty Supreme” (2025).

No Other Choice, which also stars actor Son Ye-jin, is an adaptation of the American horror thriller novel “The Ax” (1997) by Donald Westlake. Across winners, “One Battle After Another” and Netflix original series “Adolescence” (2025) dominated. “One Battle After Another,” in addition to Best Film –– Musical or Comedy, took home the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards for director Paul Thomas Anderson, while Teyana Taylor won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the film.

“Adolescence” also won four Golden Globes, including Best Limited Series, Best Actor in a Limited Series, Best Supporting Actor (Television) and Best Supporting Actress (Television). The Golden Globe Awards, which honor both film and television, have been held since 1944. Winners are selected by a voting body of about 300 entertainment journalists from around the world across 28 categories.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG, KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]