TIFF 2024 Review: ‘K-POPS!’ Is Sweetly Formulaic

K-Pops! is the feature film directorial debut of renowned musician Anderson .Paak. If you’re like me and are completely unfamiliar with his music, you might be tapping in for its title. The K-pop elements are more for beginners, which is loosely inspired by .Paak’s own journey of the music with his son, Soul Rasheed. However, in K-Pops!, the two embark on a father-son adventure in this adorable family comedy, with its setting and usage of a K-pop competition as a source of drama helping it stand out. Even at its most cliched and formulaic, the relationship between father and son is dynamic and sweet.

In K-Pops!, we meet BJ (.Paak), a drummer with unrealistic expectations of stardom making ends meet drumming it up at a karaoke joint in Los Angeles. He meets and falls in love with Yeji (Jee Young Han), but a beautifully animated sequence by Robin Velghe shows that their relationship was not meant to be. Too obsessed with his music and the idea of stardom, he lets the relationship go. Jumping forward to the present day, his obsessive devotion to his dreams has pushed everyone away and has left him jobless.

An opportunity presents itself when a friend hooks BJ up with a drumming gig on the Korean reality show Wildcard! What starts as a potential stepping stone to BJ achieving greatness becomes something more when he accidentally learns that he has a son, Tae Young (Rasheed), competing on the show. This leads to some inevitable uncomfortable exchanges between BJ and Yeji, who has moved to Korea and is making ends meet working in a fried chicken shop, but things seem to be looking up.

Cute montages involving BJ, Yeji, and Tae Young getting acquainted again serve as a heartwarming, albeit predictable, progression to the story. However, stardom still lingers in the back of BJ’s mind. He just can’t let it go. When an opportunity too good to be true presents itself to BJ, will he have the strength to turn it down to support his son? Or will he push his newfound family away to make his dreams come true?

K-Pops! is a sweet film, if generally formulaic, that has a lot of heart. .Paak has a ton of charisma and likable charm onscreen, which does a lot to smooth over his character’s apparent personality deficits. BJ will feel incredibly familiar as a character for any woman who has had to deal with the men of the LA dating scene and make you roll your eyes before he even gets to Korea.

Even if BJ is a self-insert for Paak, the relationship building that unfolds naturally upon meeting Tae Young is neatly done. Having Rasheed portray Tae Young goes a long way in facilitating a natural chemistry and ease in their interactions onscreen. As Tae Young, Rasheed is adorable and quick, with his comedic chops showing potential for a longer career if he wants it.

As the woman in his life, Jee Young Han’s Yeji is guarded and prickly. She’s been burned one too many times before, and BJ just comes rolling up out of nowhere to shake up her life again. Han is tasked with portraying the more serious, emotionally scorned woman archetype here. In some ways, Yeji is still left on the backburner in K-Pops! developmentally, but Han infuses the role with nuance to keep her from feeling one note.

Yvette Nicole Brown can do no wrong. With each supporting role she takes on, she always goes for it. As BJ’s mother, she nails the double-entendre comedic lines she’s given. But also, when she brings out “that voice” in one scene, your butt cheeks will clench, and you will see your soul fly out of your body for a brief second. Paired with Jonnie Park, their talks with BJ are some of the most hilarious of K-Pops!

While K-Pops! hits the nail on the family comedy formula, it does have elements that will make it stand out. .Paak, with co-writer Khaila Amazan, pulls from his African American and Korean background and incorporates it into the background of his characters. One scene that stands out (and will arguably start some passionate discussions online) is when BJ breaks down African American influence on music, including K-pop. Bridging the gap between cultures to connect the two makes for an educational moment, particularly for viewers unfamiliar with K-pop.

As K-Pops! progresses, the story has some pacing and tone issues, inadvertently feeling longer than it should. A tighter storyline could have helped with the flow. There’s also a matter of the animation. Upon its introduction, the assumption is made that it would be used more than it is. Given the art style and execution, a little more animation would have been nice. However, since it was used to indicate the passing of time (and to get around any logistics issues with shooting likely), I can’t imagine where else it could have been used except for the familial montages.

K-Pops! is bright and fun, even if it lags in the middle. The story has its problems, playing it safe and sticking to a tried-and-true formula that has worked out for many artists before. However, Paak’s charisma and the relationship journey between BJ and Tae Young are enough of a draw to keep viewers from signing off. As an introduction to the world of K-pop, it’s safe enough to show newcomers to the realm without any deep insight.

K-Pops! played as a part of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.