2025 was dominated by Squid Game 3 and KPop Demon Hunters and the two series proved their power at the Critics Choice Awards.
Taking place in Santa Monica on January 4, the third season of Squid Game won “Best Foreign Language Series” for the third time with the first two seasons winning the same awards back in 2022 and 2025. The highly anticipated but controversial final season beat out Acapulco, When No One Sees Us, Red Alert, Mussolini: Son of the Century, and Last Samurai Standing.
Squid Games arguably took over the first half of the year as it wrapped up the story on June 27 but the stories from Korea kept coming. Just a week prior, KPop Demon Hunters premiered on Netflix and rose to become Netflix’s top animated film and top film ever. The film was all anyone could talk about for the rest of the year. Everyone was belting out “Golden” and “Soda Pop” and the awards rightfully reflect their success.
The film won “Best Animated Feature,” against nominees that include Arco, Zootopia 2, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Elio, and In Your Dreams. Written by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, and Teddy, “Golden” won “Best Song,” against F1‘s “Drive,” Sinners‘s “I Lied to You,” Train Dreams‘s “Train Dreams,” Wicked for Good‘s “The Girl in the Bubble,” and The Testament of Ann Lee‘s “Clothed by the Sun.”
The awards and nominations will likely not stop for KPop Demon Hunters. This year, it’s nominated for five Grammy nominations including “Song of the Year” and “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.” Singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami have been performing the hit single “Golden” for the past few weeks, delighting fans all across the world.
Squid Game 3 and KPop Demon Hunters are both available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Critics Choice Awards
