K-Pops! (2026)
Directed by: Anderson .Paak
Premise: A musician (Anderson .Paak) seeking his big break relocates to South Korea to be the drummer for a televised talent competition. He discovers one of the contestants is his twelve-year-old son (Soul Rasheed).
What Works: K-Pops!’s filmmaking style has a musicality to the way it is shot and edited. There is a lightness and movement to the production that suits the characters and the subject matter. The film also includes colorful and unusual details, in keeping with the style of K-pop music. The characters are very likable. K-Pops! stars Anderson .Paak, who is also credited as the writer and director, and the film is designed to showcase .Paak’s talents. As that the movie generally succeeds and .Paak proves capable on all fronts. .Paak is also willing to make himself ridiculous. He plays BJ, who is introduced as selfish man-child whose career has plateaued. BJ relocates to South Korea and discovers that his ex-girlfriend Yeji (Jee Young Han) is raising the son BJ didn’t know he had. The relationship between the three of them is charming and the father-son moments hit the right emotional buttons. Music is their common denominator and with BJ and his son being multiracial, they draw on their various cultural legacies to differentiate the son’s act from the competition. Without being didactic or smug, K-Pops! celebrates a crossover between Black American and Korean culture, dramatizing how the combination of cultures yields creative possibilities.
What Doesn’t: K-Pops! has a very televisual style. The lighting and camerawork and the overall look is reminiscent of a Disney Channel original movie. As such, K-Pops! keeps an upbeat tone and avoids anything emotionally taxing. That’s especially evident when BJ discovers that he is a father. In just a few minutes of screentime, BJ reunites with an ex he hasn’t seen in over a decade, finds out he’s father, and then breaks that news to his son. This ought to be a complicated and emotional sequence but instead the filmmakers speed through it with the pitch of a television sitcom. The filmmakers are quick to flatten any conflict between BJ, his ex, and their son instead of working it out in the story. As a father-son narrative, K-Pops! mostly adheres to the formula. BJ becomes a more responsible adult and makes commitments to his son but he faces a crisis when he’s offered a career opportunity. The story hits every preordained beat without fail.
Bottom Line: K-Pops! is a standard father-son bonding tale but the characters are likable and the movie is funny and that’s enough to make this a satisfying family musical.
Episode: #1090 (March 8, 2026)