Big confession: I am a huge hater for the 2025 movie K-Pop Demon Hunters. It's popularity drives me to madness, for indeed, I am unable to fathom how would anyone think it's cute that a half-demon and a demon love each other in a family movie about the half demon accepting their demonic side.
But this isn't the first time a movie like this was released. Back in 2023, Netflix gifted the masses with a visually impactful, heart-throbbing, and terminally woke animated movie for families. From my perspective, this film walked so that K-Pop Warriors could fly. It's got everything: gays, rainbow subtexts, demons, entities, catchy songs and a taste for subversiveness one wouldn't expect from an alleged family movie. Behold, the movie that broke the game:
Nimona (2023)
Based on the webcomic of the same name, Nimona tells the story of a shape-shifting entity and her friend, Ballister Boldheart.
Brought to you by both the now defunct Blue Sky Studios and Netflix, the movie was well received and even got an Oscar nomination. While it never exploded like other Netflix originals, it did enjoy some popularity and a Nimona-themed filter was present in some social media apps.
When Nimona came out I was fairly shocked by its bold, unapologetic wokeness. Despite not gathering as much attention as the infamous 2022 classic Light-Year, Nimona isn't just a woke movie - it is the woke movie. And today, in the Pasture of Knowledge, we will see why.
Synopsis
There are many ways in which this film is woke, but first, let me lay the cards on the table.
In a world that mixes aspects of medieval Europe and a high technology city, Ballister Boldheart is preparing to be made a knight. In his nation's foundational myth, the heroine Gloreth had defeated a big black monster, founding for her descendants the Institute for knights. Ballister studied there.
Boldheart is struggling with public acceptance, since he is quite literally a diversity hire (the first peasant to be a knight) and people are skeptical about him.
During the knighting ceremony, Ballister's weapon lasers the Queen against his wishes - it was activated by someone else. The guy's arm is mutilated by his friend Ambrosius and he is dumped in prison after a short escape.
Nimona, a shape-shifting entity who wants him to become a villain, says she will help him to prove his innocence. Since Ballister is between a rock and a hard place, he accepts reluctantly. The prison break ensues.
Ballister and Nimona manage to prove his innocence using the later's abilities. They discover the Director for the Knight's Institute is guilty of the crime, and cause chaos by posting it online.
But all is not well. Ballister is told by Ambrosius that Nimona is the monster that Gloreth defeated long ago. He confronts Nimona.
This triggers on the entity a massive mental health crisis. You see, she was the entity that Gloreth had defeated. Both had been friends, but when the people saw Nimona as a threat, Gloreth learned to hate her former friend.
Nimona is taken over by a dark energy rage and becomes a gigantic black monster. This ancient beast slugs through the city, causing destruction. It marches towards Gloreth's statue - her mighty sword pointing towards Nimona's heart. The entity wants to commit suicide.
However, Ballister stops her at the last moment and tells her that she will never be alone. Nimona breaks from the black goo curse and reconciles with her friend.
This triggers The Director really hard and she attempts to destroy Nimona with a weapon of mass destruction. Why? I don't know, I guess that's what villains do. Nimona takes the shape of the Phoenix and absorbs the impact of the weapon - seemingly dying in the process - and saving the city.
In the end, Ballister and Ambrosius kiss (yes, they were a gay couple through the entire movie. I reserved the big surprise for the end), and he learns Nimona is still alive.
The Gay Stuff
"You're gonna die in this closet!" - Nimona
Let's get rid of this real quick. Yes, this is *the* gay family movie. It has a gay protagonist (Ballister) who is allowed to show his relationship for important character moments. Most "gay" Disney movies only have a 2 second kiss cameo or downplay the gayness in exchange for other topics.
Furthermore, Nimona's shape shifting abilities are used as an analogy for the queer gender identity. Queer people feel they have a fluid personality. Just like Nimona, they imagine themselves as some sort of boundless entity with no defined identity.
I am rather shocked this didn't cause the massive scandal that would have happened if Disney had released the film. Apparently, everyone has just accepted Netflix as the St Fransisco cousin, only receiving punishment if they involve franchises from the 70's.
Indeed, with Nimona we can learn about the hypocrisy / ignorance of the lamestream right-wing media (cough cough Fox News, Daily Wire and Blaze TV)
The Demon Stuff
"METAL!!" - Nimona
Sometimes, Nimona takes shapes of demons:
Wings, pointy tail
Whatever.
Also noticeable is that she tries to seduce Ballister into being more of a villain. Puny little demon things do this kind of stuff too.
I'm not shocked some people think Nimona is a demon. While the movie doesn't define her as such, it doesn't really try to make you think she isn't one.
I would spare any shape-shifting entity as long as they can prove they are not demons. Unfortunately for Nimona, I'm not so sure about her.
The Violent Stuff
Let's move to stuff that's actually interesting. And that's Nimona's tendency for violence.
While Boldheart is still constrained by moral boundaries, Nimona seems to have a sadistic side. For example, she tries to convince Ballister to kill /harm people:
Nimona: Who do you want to kill first?
Ballister Boldheart: I'm not killing anybody.
Nimona: This one. This guy looks extremely punchable.
Ballister Boldheart: You're right. He is actually extremely punchable.
+++
Nimona: We are villains. Embrace it.
Ballister Boldheart: No. We're doing things my way this time. No one gets hurt.
Nimona: I was going for the hurting people version.
She fantasizes about slashing the knights in a scene were she and Ballister are playing board games. Pressing a box of juice, squirting forwards as she pretends to be dying.
Keep in mind some revolutionaries will glorify violence as revenge for whatever abuse (real or perceived) they see. This is a belief found in Punk-Rock, a musical style from which the movie draws some inspiration.
To be fair, I think that her taste for violence is likely just a bad cope for being enemy NO. 1 for so long. Her theatrical hatred is just her pretending to be strong and tough - when she is just a puny entity with no friends. Am I Right?
Or maybe not. Her hatred is real. She actually wants to hurt people. Her vengeful viciousness is quenched only after Ballister apologizes. This motivates her to give humanity another chance.
Anyone who is resentful enough to be impressed by her chaotic cartoon- hatred will certainly imitate her. After all, if they see themselves as victims of violence, what's going to stop them from defending themselves violently?The woke want you to accept them or else you will get broken knees.
Nimona Unalives Herself
"Kids. Little kids. They grow up believing that they can be a hero if they drive a sword into the heart of anything different... And I'm the monster? I don't know what's scarier. The fact that everyone in this kingdom wants to run a sword through my heart... or that sometimes, I just wanna let 'em." - Nimona.
There's also the suicide part. When this movie was released, nobody had dared to portray this pathology of the human soul in such a bold manner in a supposedly family friendly movie.
I have a series of negative comments to make about this. Firstly; this is supposed to be a movie for families. Secondly; considering which kind of kids are more likely to see this movie, I think it's a terrible idea to portray suicide in any way.
You see, self-harm is contagious. When you see suicide in a movie (specially when you are a minor), you are more likely to fall for it. That's why 13 Reasons Why was so controversial. Many suicide experts said the way self-killing was portrayed wouldn't work to protect teenagers from it.
While Nimona doesn't manage to fulfill her dark intentions, there's something quite sinister behind her actions. It sells the message of "accept me as I am or you will miss me when I'm gone". In my opinion, not much different from 13 Reasons Why's "don't bully me or you'll miss me when I'm gone".
It turns out, that even though I would be considered homophobic, I don't happen to want rainbow people to kill themselves.
Considering all of this, I am actually kind of glad Nimona didn't die. Indeed, the ironies of woke movies.
The Dark History Stuff.
An important part of woke history consists in rediscovering history through different perspectives. For example, while some consider the American Revolution as a glorious phenomenon, the woke only see that African Americans were not freed from slavery. This, what they formerly saw as a glorious past is suddenly modified into a useless conflict between white people.
This is present in the movie too. Gloreth wasn't a hero: she was just a scared confused girl who learned to hate her friend. The big black monster was just a depressed thing who wanted friends. The doctrine is that if History has changed, you should change too. Nimona integrates this belief successfully without forced race-swaps and condescending speech.
Conclusion
Nimona opens to us the gate to the woke mentality in ways that very few movies have done. Their desire for love, their unstable emotions and their vengeful desires are opened to us like a forbidden door. And this includes whatever family of normies let their kids watch it.
Nimona is the wokest movie of them all
It's rainbows everywhere, the gays are enthralled
The Daily Wire didn't saw her sneaky schemes
Disney's a distraction from it's bold queer themes
She's a menacing rebel, a blood-starved phenomenon
A fantasy most fearsome, a grimy pinky pawn
With her scaly demon-wings, she's the blast of a temptation
For a most disgusting taste - and a painful transmutation!
Hey! Nimona, I can feel your inner weakness
Behind your bloody Punk-Rock taste I feel fear and stiffness
What's with you people, why so hungry for deletion?
From here the pit of hell doesn't show a tasty extinction.
Nimona tells the rainbows to execute themselves
If you dare to feel repulsed when they spay their selves.
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