KPop Demon Hunters had a Golden start to 2026, taking home two prizes at the Critics Choice Awards.

Netflix's animated musical urban fantasy film won Best Animated Feature, after seeing off competition from Arco, Elio, In Your Dreams, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2.

And the motion picture's tune Golden, which is performed by fictional K-pop girl group Huntrix in the movie, won Best Song.

The track defeated the likes of Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, and Blake Slatkin's Drive, from the F1 film, as well as Stephen Schwartz's The Girl in the Bubble from Wicked: For Good.

Other top tunes in the category included I Lied to You from Sinners, Clothed by the Sun from The Testament of Ann Lee, and Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner's Train Dreams, which featured in the drama movie of the same name.

Singer-songwriter EJAE, who provided the singing voice for KPop Demon Hunters character Rumi, admitted her alter-ego's journey felt "deeply familiar" to her when she was shooting the motion picture.

Speaking at the ceremony at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California on Sunday night (01.04.26), she told the crowd: "When writing this song, I found myself living vicariously through my character Rumi.

"Her life and journey in the movie felt deeply familiar to me.

"The song needed to be an expression of hope to convince herself that she could write and reach for her dreams."

EJAE also feels proud that Golden can "give hope" to others around the world.

She added: "In many ways, it did the same for me, but most importantly for it to be giving hope so many people around the world is truly the greatest honor."

When Rumi - the lead vocalist and leader of Huntrix, who is the daughter of a demon father and a late demon hunter mother - was not singing in the film, Arden Cho was the voice behind the character.

She was in attendance at the ceremony, and following KPop Demon Hunters' double win, she wrote on Instagram: "So amazing!!!"