the host movie review 2013

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Stephenie Meyer , whose books inspired the " Twilight " (2008) movies, now presents a new way for true love to struggle against itself. In the "Twilight" world, characters were invited to become vampires to share more fully the lives of those they loved. "The Host" presents a possibility that, if anything, is a deeper commitment. Earth has been invaded by a race of "souls" who inhabit human bodies, stripping them of their memories and identities. It's the way the alien race survives and spreads.

We meet Melanie Stryder ( Saoirse Ronan ), who through some sort of glitch, is inhabited by an alien soul but still retains, there inside her mind, her own identity. This leads to interior conversations between the Soul Melanie and the Earth Melanie. Soul Melanie (known as Wanderer) falls in love with Earth Melanie, even though in theory this isn't possible because the Wanderer has become Melanie. This intimate form of self-love leads to dialogue that will possibly be found humorous by some people. When Wanda is about to kiss the boy she loves, for example, the film uses voiceover to warn her: "No, Melanie! Wrong! No! He's from another planet!"

True, in our own lives, we pick up warnings on that frequency: No! You'll get pregnant! No! He's from the other side of town! No! He's your best friend's boyfriend!" I imagine this as a version of one of those debates where little angels with harps and devils with pitchforks perch on your shoulders.

Much of the film is set in New Mexico, where a band of surviving humans hides inside an "almost" extinct volcano. Using sunlight reflected by walls of mirrors they can crank up and down, they raise crops for their agrarian eco-system.

Melanie and her soul venture forth to find her other Stryder relatives. They are united with Jeb ( William Hurt , a bearded patriarch), Maggie ( Frances Fisher ) and young Jamie ( Chandler Canterbury ). They hide from soul patrols in search cars and helicopters, allowing "The Host" to get by with a few simple sets, including a tunnel that always looks like the same tunnel. The Souls are determined to track down all evaders, and at the outset I gather they've already enlisted more or less all the humans on Earth, except for members of the Stryder family.

"The Host" was directed by Andrew Niccol , who co-wrote the script with Stephenie Meyer. Niccol is attracted to films about humans living (whether they realize it or not) in artificial societies. He wrote " The Truman Show " (1998), about a man living inside his own reality show and observed on TV by humankind, and directed " Gattaca ," about another kind of artificial society. His films' ground rules limit the depth and variety of possible relationships, and "The Host" is top-heavy with profound, sonorous conversations, all tending to sound like farewells. The movie is so consistently pitched at the same note, indeed, that the structure robs it of possibilities for dramatic tension.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The Host (2013)

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and violence

125 minutes

Frances Fisher as Maggie

Max Irons as Jared

Diane Kruger as The Seeker

William Hurt as Jeb

Saoirse Ronan as Melanie

Jake Abel as Ian

Directed by

• Andrew Niccol
• Stephenie Meyer

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Film Review: ‘The Host’

An extravagantly silly but undeniably entertaining sci-fi soap opera

By Scott Foundas

Scott Foundas

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The teenage years can, don’t we all know, be an alienating experience, even when you don’t have an actual alien trapped inside your body. But such is the fate of the spirited young heroine of “The Host ,” who finds that talking to boys and stuff is a whole lot harder when your soul is being sucked by one of the space invaders slowly wiping humankind from the face of the planet. This extravagantly silly but undeniably entertaining sci-fi soap opera — the latest adapted from the work of Mormon YA-lit phenom Stephenie Meyer — should prove shrewd distaff counterprogramming to “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” posting solid (if less-than-“Twilight”-sized) numbers at home and other points throughout the galaxy.

With “The Walking Dead” slaying ’em on the smallscreen, “ Warm Bodies ” still haunting a few multiplexes and “Oblivion” just around the bend, there seem to be few surer bets in Hollywood these days than tales of an Earth imperiled by some alien/zombie/enviro apocalypse and the hardy band of survivors trying to preserve their humanity. In this latest variation, ETs that look like fuzzy, phosphorescent amoebas enter their human “hosts” through slits in the back of the neck, bonding with them like the similar-minded occupiers from “ Invasion of the Body Snatchers ,” a submissive demeanor and a telltale ring of bright blue light in the eyes signaling that the transformation is complete.

By the time we pick up the story, most of the damage has been done, but the news isn’t all bad: These unfailingly well-mannered aliens have, an opening narration informs us, brought “honesty, courtesy and kindness” to our often cruel society. For unexplained reasons, they also seem to have leeched all the color from the world, dressing from head to toe in lab-tech couture and driving about in a fleet of reflective silver Lotus Elises. But humans, it turns out, aren’t so keen on this whole soul-sharing idea. So some of them have gone on the run, like Melanie ( Saoirse Ronan ), a bayou girl from the great, tax-incentive state of Louisiana, with a heart-tugging kid brother (Chandler Canterbury) and hunky rebel boyfriend (Max Irons) in tow.

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In the film’s early moments, Melanie is captured by a team of “Seekers,” who implant her with one of their own kind, a millennia-old shapeshifter called Wanderer, whose job is to search Melanie’s memories for evidence of other human dissidents. Only, as Wanderer soon discovers, Melanie is still very much alive in there, too, struggling for control over her mind and body.

Director Andrew Niccol (who also adapted Meyer’s novel) dramatizes this by having Melanie speak telepathically to Wanderer, who in turn responds with spoken dialogue — which, for a while, gives “ The Host ” the strange tenor of a 1950s women’s psychodrama crossed with a 1980s body-switching comedy: “The Snake Pit” meets “All of Me.” It all might have seemed even more ridiculous than it sounds were it not for the deeply resourceful Ronan, who has, ever since “Atonement,” projected that slightly alien quality of children with a poise and wisdom well beyond their years. Here, trapped in what seems like an unplayable role, she not only creates two separate and distinct personalities for Melanie and Wanderer, but injects the entire film with a much-needed level of plausible reality.

When Melanie proves too resistant, the Seekers’ queen bee (Diane Kruger) proposes ejecting Wanderer and taking over the job herself. At which point both alien and host — who have started to become rather fond of one another — make a break for it, heading west in search of the human underground.

Figuratively speaking, this is a road Niccol has traveled many times. Dystopian neo-futures, plasticine pseudo-realities and class-war allegories are his stock-in-trade, from 1997’s “Gattaca” to 2011’s “In Time” to his original script for “The Truman Show.” It has been a career of generally diminishing returns, though Niccol remains a proficient technician, and “The Host” is never less than a muscular exercise in style, immeasurably enhanced by Roberto Schaefer’s widescreen lensing of the New Mexico desert, where Melanie/Wanderer finally finds brother, boyfriend, uncle ( William Hurt , looking like a dour Pa Kettle) and the rest of the human resistance living in a series of interconnected caves.

Here, “The Host” morphs into yet another genre hybrid, suggesting one of those old frontier Westerns in which some group of noble homesteaders steeled themselves against imminent attack from Indians or greedy cattle barons; surely this is among the least likely movies ever to include an extended crop-harvesting scene. But it’s clear that, as in the “Twilight” series, the real crisis here is a young woman’s sexual awakening — make that a young woman and a very old alien’s respective sexual awakenings. “You can touch me. I don’t want you to stop,” Melanie instructs Irons’ Jared in one heavy-petting flashback, but all subsequent efforts to make it past first base are curtailed by Melanie’s fury at seeing Wanderer (now known simply as “Wanda”) making out with her boyfriend, to say nothing of Wanda’s own blossoming affection for the equally strapping Ian ( Jake Abel ).

Meyer is undeniably canny at using genre to address the age-old struggles of adolescence, but at just over two hours, even “The Host’s” air of guilty pleasure eventually subsides. In the final stretch, the movie devolves into a protracted series of mini-climaxes before finally creaking across the finish line. All of which will mean little to the core audience of Twihards jonesing for a Meyer fix, now that Edward and Bella have ridden off into the celluloid sunset. Can there be room in this crazy, mixed-up world for man, woman and alien? “The Host” might have been more effective if we had to tune in next week to find out.

Reviewed at Dolby 88, New York, March 27, 2013. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time:   125 MIN.

An Open Road release and presentation in association with IAV Intl. and Silver Reel of a Nick Wechsler/ Chockstone Pictures/Fickle Fish production. Produced by Wechsler, Steve Schwartz , Paula Mae Schwartz . Executive producers, Jim Seibel, Bill Johnson , Marc Butan, Claudia Bluemhuber, Uwe R. Feuersenger, Ray Angelic. Co-producers, Roger Schwartz , Meghan Hibbett, Lizzy Bradford.

Directed, written by Andrew Niccol, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer. Camera (color, widescreen, HD), Roberto Schaefer; editor, Thomas J. Nordberg; music, Antonio Pinto; production designer, Andy Nicholson; art director, Beat Frutiger; costume designer, Erin Benach; sound (Dolby Digital), Steve Aaron; sound designer/supervising sound editor, Michael Babcock; re-recording mixers, Paul Massey, David Giammarco; visual effects producers, Ellen Somers, Scott Shapiro; visual effects, Rodeo FX , Chaos, Sandbox F/X, Post Matters, Capital T, Freestyle, EDFX, Juggernaut, Ace, Rotofactory, Gradient Effects; special makeup effects, Glen Hetrick’s Optic Nerve Studios; stunt coordinator, Sam Hargrave; assistant director, Nicholas C. Mastandrea; casting, Mindy Marin.

With: Saoirse Ronan, Jake Abel, Max Irons, William Hurt, Diane Kruger, Chandler Canterbury, Boyd Holbrook .

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• March 29, 2013
• Saoirse Ronan as Melanie & Wanda; Max Irons as Jared; Jake Abel as Ian; Diane Kruger as The Seeker; Chandler Canterbury as Jamie; William Hurt as Jeb

Home Release Date

• July 9, 2013
• Andrew Niccol

Distributor

• Open Road Films

Movie Review

We earthlings don’t like uninvited visitors.

That may make us appear a bit standoffish to the galactic community at times. But we have reason to be cautious. If trespassing aliens aren’t poking us with probes, they’re blowing up our White Houses. If they’re not obliterating our culture, they’re hunting us for sport. Oh, sure, an occasional candy-loving visitor may stop by, waggling his glowing, healing fingers at us in the friendliest of ways. But for every cuddly E.T., there are so many others who are ever so eager to wrap their tentacles around our faces and burst through our chest cavities. Let’s face it: Most of them treat our planet like Guns & Roses used to treat dressing rooms.

All of which makes the Souls in The Host look like doily-loving Victorian ladies.

Instead of descending on our planet like laser-wielding Huns, the Souls visit with an eye toward sprucing things up. In no time at all they put an end to war and violence, clean up our polluted environs and ban (we can only assume) clamshell packaging.

So what if they had to take over the bodies of practically every earthling to do it? Isn’t it worth it to enjoy a world free of strife, worry and reality TV?

No , the last remnants of humanity insist. No, it is not . And they have a point. After all, it’s not like we’re getting to enjoy this new, improved Earth. Because when the Souls infiltrate our bodies, they take over possession like a house-flipper snagging a foreclosure. Only instead of evicting the abode’s poor, delinquent residents, they just bury ’em down in the basement.

Unless, of course, the host resists. Which is exactly what Melanie does.

Melanie had been one of the last Soul-free humans. She, her beau Jared and little bro Jamie were about to head into the desert, hoping to hook up with a band of equally stubborn humans led by Melanie’s rather eccentric old coot of an uncle, Jeb. But Melanie’s nabbed before they get there and paired with a thousand-year-old Soul that calls itself “Wanderer.”

And that’s that. Right? Actually, not so much.

Melanie is still determined to get to Jared and Jamie and Jeb and whoever else might still be human (and, apparently, has a name that begins with “J”). And she’s going to get there even if she has to drag Wanderer along, kicking and screaming at each and every step.

Positive Elements

The humans in The Host are a sincere if ragtag lot. They’re not inclined in the least to just hand their bodies over to these interstellar interlopers. And if they ever succeed in getting the planet back, they’ll all likely get medals for heroism and derring-do and such.

But the real hero here, oddly enough, is Wanderer—or Wanda for short. Technically, she’s part of the in-crowd these days: Her race rules the planet; she controls Melanie’s body. And yet she has a deep compassion for her unwilling host, who is still trapped in there with her. It’s not long before the two “souls” form a partnership of sorts. Wanda withholds information from her fellow Souls that would endanger Jared and Jamie. And when the Souls decide Melanie’s body is more trouble than it’s worth, Wanda helps Melanie run away.

When the two of them arrive at rebel headquarters, both are at risk. Everyone knows that Melanie isn’t precisely Melanie anymore. In fact, they doubt Melanie’s in there at all, and most would like to kill Wanda. Despite all that hostility, Wanda proves to be a far better guest than her rebellious captors are hosts. She tries to protect Jared and treats Jamie with incredible sensitivity. When handed a sickle to harvest grain, she does so—rather than beheading the nearest human and running back to friendlier environs. She even saves the life of someone bent on killing her. One by one, she wins these reactionary humans over and becomes a part of their community.

[ Spoiler Warning ] She also realizes that she’s in possession of something not hers: Melanie’s body. And so she decides to leave it, knowing that she’ll sacrifice her own life to give Melanie’s back.

Spiritual Elements

When Jamie gets seriously hurt, Jeb leans over his inert body, head bowed and eyes closed, as if in prayer—but we can’t know for sure that that’s what he’s doing. Someone sarcastically says “hallelujah.”

Sexual Content

Lots of kissing here. So much that a good chunk of the film’s estimated $40 million budget must’ve been doled out on lip balm. When Melanie and Jared meet, they realize that they (and Jamie) might be the last vestiges of humanity. Both understand the implications. Jared, in a very Edwardian flourish of gallantry, tells Melanie that even if they truly are the last man and woman alive, “you still don’t have to” (leaving the “have sex with me” part unspoken). But Melanie’s having none of that. “I want to,” she tells him. “When you touch me, I don’t want you to stop.”

They kiss and caress in several scenes, and we watch them as they roll in bed beneath covers. (We see his bare back). Now add this to mix: Wanda sometimes passionately kisses Jared in order to attract Melanie’s interest and ire when the two share a body. You see, Melanie doesn’t like Wanda kissing her beau, and it becomes an odd running gag that whenever Wanda/Melanie slaps or bites Jared to push him away, Jared’s thrilled because he knows that it’s Melanie who is doing the slapping.

A human named Ian had never met Melanie before Wanda took over. But he really digs Wanda —a relationship that Melanie is very resistant to. That doesn’t stop Wanda and Ian from kissing quite a bit themselves.

Moviegoers also see Melanie take a bath (from the shoulders up) and lay naked in a treatment bed. (She’s fully covered except for, again, her shoulders). She wears a shimmering, thin-strapped nightgown that shows a bit of cleavage and other outfits that accentuate her curves. We hear Souls talk about how humans have “unusually strong physical drives.”

Violent Content

Many humans, we learn, prefer death to serving as hosts. Melanie’s dad shoots himself rather than submit. (We see him pick up a gun, then hear a shot fired.) Two rebels drive their truck into a concrete barrier to keep their bodies from the Souls. The cabin is completely crushed, presumably killing them both. Melanie, after thwacking a few Soul-filled attackers in the face, crashes through a glass window and falls several stories to the concrete below in what proves to be a failed suicide attempt. (Melanie survives the very painful looking fall, though a Soul says that there’s “barely not a bone broken or organ ruptured” in her.)

A Soul shoots one of her own: We see a splash of red and the inert body, its head in a pool of blood. Jamie accidentally slices his leg with a scythe. We see the wound immediately and again later, after it becomes grotesquely infected. Wanda/Melanie purposely cuts her own forearm and forehead with a knife. (It’s a ruse to gain access to a hospital’s stash of medicine.)

Humans punch Soul-infested hosts. Someone tries to pull Wanda into rushing water to kill her. Jeb fires a shotgun in warning. Melanie attacks a pursuer. Several people get into a fight, hitting and choking each other. Folks get slapped. Melanie crashes a car in the desert, flipping it multiple times. (She escapes with just a few scratches.) People have the backs of their necks sliced open.

Human rebels sometimes knock hosts out and take them back to their base where the resident doctor tries to extract the aliens from the people. The operation always leads to the death of both the human host and the Soul inside. Wanda, when she discovers it, is horrified. She (and we) see what she characterizes as murdered alien lifeforms laying inert like big squished insects.

Crude or Profane Language

One nice thing about these aliens: They don’t swear much, which keeps the movie’s language quotient down. We hear one use of “a‑‑,” one “p‑‑‑” and five or six uses of “h‑‑‑.” God’s name is misused four or five times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Other negative elements.

The aliens’ strict allegiance to their moral code rubs humans the wrong way at times. When Wanda tells Melanie that her kind don’t ever lie and that they unfailingly trust one another, Melanie says, “You take the fun out of everything.” And when Wanda leaves a store with groceries that she doesn’t have to pay for (the Souls’ commerce systems have eliminated the need for currency, apparently), her human companions remark how they preferred stealing. And Melanie does indeed confess that she’s shoplifted and stolen cars before. (Presumably it was after the alien invasion, but it’s never specified.) Eventually, Wanda learns how to lie.

The Host is the product of  Twilight author Stephenie Meyers’ prolific imagination. No surprise, then, that it embraces some of the same themes and ethical strictures that inform her popular vampire series: courage, friendship, sacrifice, forgiveness, love.

Oh, and interspecies relationships.

But while Melanie/Wanda may be locked in a bizarre love triangle just as Bella Swan was with Edward and Jacob, Melanie certainly doesn’t wait ’til marriage to have sex.

That’s a key point, given the movie’s intended demographic: teens and tweens, particularly girls. Despite the story’s ostensible sci-fi template, it’s more romance than alien-invasion thriller. We hear heartfelt confessions and see kisses in the rain amid a tumult of passionate, conflicting emotions. It feels at times almost like an 8th-grade image of what true love must be like, one that’s imbued with mid-pubescent intensity and longing.

Meyers understands and taps into those powerful emotions that make up so much of adolescence. She remembers well what it feels like to be young, exploring new desires and overwhelming feelings.

But the movie plumbs those desires in some discomforting ways. As much as we’d like our daughters to appreciate Melanie’s admirable determination, other aspects of her character are problematic. And the fact that the main character feels so young (she’s played by Saorise Ronan, best known for her work as a child in Atonement , The Lovely Bones ,  Hanna and City of Ember ) doesn’t help matters.

There are some positive themes here, as I said. The Host tells us to be kind to others, even if they’re very different from us. It encourages us to fight for what’s right and not be cowed by forces greater than ourselves (even if they have chrome-covered Lotuses). And it stresses the infinite power of love.

But The Host also cloaks flaws lurking beneath its pretty exterior. I heard tittering in the audience during what were intended to be some of the film’s most poignant moments—never a good sign. And while sometimes bad movies can have good messages, The Host’ s morality is ultimately too muddled to offer much redemption.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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The Host Reviews

Fails to adequately explore either its characters or the specifics of its concept-driven world.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 12, 2022

Anyone who enjoys the shallow romance of the Twilight series will absolutely love this trash.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Sep 18, 2021

I did enjoy the film and despite its short comings in the story department I can recommend it to anyone who is willing to watch a film based on a book by the author of the Twilight Saga... you know who you are.

Full Review | Mar 17, 2021

Quickly gives way to annoying gimmicks, unconvincing dialogue, and inadvertently hilarious situations.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/10 | Dec 3, 2020

Ronan and William Hurt do the best they can with the material but there's only so much that can be done with it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.0/4.0 | Sep 11, 2020

It's goofy, corny, and oddly upsetting. I laughed a lot, if only to shake away how weird it actually is.

Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Jul 27, 2020

Wouldn't you know it, interplanetary teenage love is hard. The film is also only as interesting as that maudlin young love sounds.

Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Jul 9, 2020

The acting, as well as Andrew Niccol's writing and direction, are all awful; I can't in good conscience recommend that anyone see this film.

Full Review | Aug 28, 2019

Lazily follows the same formula as Meyer's other works, but insert aliens where you'd think vampires.

Full Review | Aug 9, 2019

The Host might have been stronger as a TV series, with more time to spend on character development and a gradually building plot, but Niccol's cool direction and his solid cast make is a perfectly watchable genre piece.

Full Review | Feb 26, 2019

This movie stole two hours of my life.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 20, 2019

Inexplicably, The Host is another convenient Meyer-induced supernatural soap dish that wants to exploit the girl power movie-going minions with schlocky cotton candy amour nestled behind an overused gothic-oriented gimmick.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 18, 2018

So in short, unless you are a pre-teen girl with a less-than-C average, this movie is probably not worth your time.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Nov 6, 2018

The film is dull and slow, nothing happens during the entire second act, the dialog is laughable, and the ending is the most contrived and utterly anti-climactic thing ever.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/10 | Nov 1, 2018

A dumb plot, laughable dialogue and bad acting, make The Host one of the worst commercial films I've ever seen. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 0.5/5 | Nov 12, 2017

The Host wraps up cleanly but it's clear from the ending that, all going well, there will be a second instalment.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 9, 2017

Kind of like watching a toddler assemble a high-end bookcase.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 12, 2016

Those who found Twilight nauseating will find The Host has the same overlong runtime, cornball characters, and artificially pumped up romantic stakes.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 9, 2013

The Host fails as a romance, but it also struggles as an adventure film. The body-snatching angle has been done before, and the aliens... aren't menacing enough.

Full Review | Original Score: .5/4 | Jul 16, 2013

Oh, the silly movies we must endure. "The Host" is perhaps one of the most brain-dead sci-fi love stories to come along in many years.

Full Review | Original Score: D- | Jul 10, 2013

Review by Brian Eggert March 29, 2013

Another film adaptation of a book by Twilight novelist Stephenie Meyer, The Host occupies a familiar schema where a central female protagonist spends the entire narrative in turmoil as she pines over two hunky young men. Meanwhile, the fantasy world around her has bigger things happening; in this case, an invasion by an advanced alien parasite race. Just as Meyer had defanged vampires and werewolves in her popular book and film series, she removes nearly all the juicy genre elements from this science-fiction yarn in place of a dull teen love story. Imagine a dime-store romance version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and you’ll get the idea. Talented filmmaker Andrew Niccol, the creator of the superb Gattaca , proves his disappointment In Time wasn’t just a fluke with yet another dreadfully written but sharp-looking film that fails to adequately explore either its characters or the specifics of its concept-driven world.

The narration explains how Earth has ostensibly lost its struggle against the alien invaders long ago; and so the film begins with the aliens in control, having bettered our planet by restoring the environment and bringing peace through cold assimilation. Only a few human rebel stragglers remain, hiding out in secret. Much like the sparkly vampires of Meyer’s creation, the aliens, called “Souls,” look like fragile glowing bundles of fiber optic cable and seep into the human brain when an incision is made in the back of the neck. Humans with a parasite in them can be spotted by their silvery glowing eyes. This process of symbiosis begs the question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which is to say, how did these delicate glowing parasites, which ride to Earth in silver football-sized pods, take over? Unlike, say, the Philip Kaufman version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), where parasites travel on solar winds and infiltrate us through invisible microscopic particles, the Souls must be implanted. Given this, how did their takeover occur? Throughout the film, I kept wondering how creatures that require surgery to bond with their host bodies occupied the won’t-go-quietly human race. Alas, that question is never answered.

Within Meyer’s brand of storytelling, it seems a requirement that we accept nonsensical plot silliness in service of an even sillier romance. The story begins when human rebel Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is captured by a “Seeker” (Diane Kruger) while trying to distract the alien scouts away from her little brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury) and boyfriend Jared (Max Irons). Melanie’s body becomes the new home of an alien entity named Wanderer, but when Wanderer awakes, she (for lack of a better pronoun) comes to find Melanie’s consciousness is still inside her head, resisting. What follows are endless sequences where Ronan must stand there and deliver Wanderer’s dialogue, while she also completes Melanie’s portion of their conversation through voiceover. Even a versatile actress of Ronan’s caliber—having starred in Atonement and Hanna —cannot make these scenes interesting. The fault lies on Niccol, who not only directed but adapted the material for the screen. There’s nothing more un-cinematic than a character having what is basically a one-way conversation with a voice inside her head. If Niccol had chosen to show Melanie, either “inside” Wanderer’s head or perhaps as Wanderer envisioned her, these scenes might’ve had a similar dynamic to Gollum’s multiple-personality moments from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. But no such luck.

The story proceeds when Melanie exerts mental influence over Wanderer and forces her body to escape and look for Jamie and Jared. When she eventually finds them living in a dissident culture in the mountains with her uncle Jeb (William Hurt), the Melanie part of her wants Jared, while the Wanderer part of her is interested in one of Jeb’s loyalists, Ian (Jake Abel). What’s a girl to do, follow the human voice trapped inside her head or the alien voice, also inside her head? Cue several “I’m of two minds about it” remarks. Questions about which guy she should kiss are absurd, and yet they’re foundational to The Host , a film in which nothing much of anything happens. The plot does not move in a forward direction; rather, Melanie’s vocal presence comes and goes when Niccol finds it handy, as Wanderer waits around for humans to trust her. At the same time, Seeker badly wants to track down Melanie/Wanderer and begins to lose her alien cool in the process, but too little is made of this character’s motivations to sufficiently draw our attention. It all ends with a decidedly bothersome solution to the love quadrangle by dreaming up a maddeningly convenient way out.

Name any of Niccol’s films, and you’ve selected a picture with a sense of visual craft and technical control. The Host is no exception, boasting a crisp, antiseptic sci-fi visual design comprised of elegant architecture, slick silver-plated vehicles, and clean lines. Contrast the film’s alien culture with Jeb’s cave abode, a kind of underground farmland where everyone wears tattered clothes and uses the same community water hole to wash up. Cinematographer Roberto Schaefer shoots these opposing environments beautifully, even if the designs themselves weren’t all that inventive of production designer Andy Nicholson. But it’s Niccol’s treatment of the source material that fails to render the screen story in a cinematic way. Aside from Ronan and the moody presence of Hurt, the cast of young actors doesn’t impress (their performances prove unintentionally funny by the time the second kiss in the rain occurs). Blame the source material if you must, as Meyer isn’t known for her sophisticated prose or intelligent plotting. But Niccol, a capable if derivative director, hasn’t done much to improve the author’s teen melodramatics beyond their sappy and predictable limitations.

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‘The Host’ (2013) Movie Review

By Brad Brevet

All films face expectations. Unless you’re able to walk into a movie completely unaware of what the next couple of hours has to offer, this is a natural fact. Yet, whether it’s the director, cast, screenwriter or even the studio, an audience member must attempt to get over their expectations if there is any hope of enjoying a film, free of any and all encumbrances. In the case of The Host , expectations arise as a result of the source material’s author, Stephenie Meyer , and I’m sorry to say her’s is a name that creates low expectations. Meyer ushered unto the world the “Twilight” novels and the resulting film franchise, which has been laughed at by critics while fawned over by fans too young to know any better and too emotionally invested to care.

Knowing nothing beyond a limited amount of information about The Host before going in and any previous knowledge I had gained virtually erased from my memory, I felt I was going in as clean as possible. I hadn’t watched a trailer and while I believe Andrew Niccol ( In Time , Lord of War ) serves as a better screenwriter than director, I do enjoy the film’s lead actress, Saoirse Ronan ( Atonement , Hanna ), and the additions of Diane Kruger and William Hurt can only make things better… right?

Even the lowest of expectations could not prepare me for the amount of awful that is The Host .

Like most bad movies, The Host begins with the faint winds that something nasty may be in the offing, but the clouds on the horizon suggest that while the meteorologists say it’s going to rain, you’re willing to go outdoors, hoping they’re wrong.

You’re drawn to the idea of an alien species infecting the whole of humanity. This invading species is shocked by the violent nature of humankind. The result of their invasion is unfettered peace on Earth, and yet, there is nothing left that defines one person from the next outside of their physical characteristics. While obvious and not necessarily unique in its observations, the roots of a good story are here only to be trampled by one of the poorest excuses for romance I’ve seen, and the clouds on the horizon move in, the skies open up and the rain begins to pour.

Melanie (Ronan) is one of the few remaining “wild” humans and the film begins as she is captured by a group of Seekers. Seekers, so you know, are humans that have already had their minds invaded by the aliens and their job is to find the remaining “free” humans to also serve as hosts.

Well, Melanie is captured and an alien “soul” is placed inside her. This soul names itself Wanderer, but something happens, Melanie’s soul fights back, refusing to let Wanderer take over her body completely. This results in voice over from Melanie speaking to Wanderer, and Wanderer essentially talking to herself in an effort to reply. This goes on for the entire movie .

Eventually Melanie convinces Wanderer to escape the alien compound and head for the desert to meet with the rest of the human resistance including her boyfriend, Jared ( Max Irons ), and her young brother ( Joey King ). What she doesn’t expect when she gets there is for her boyfriend to backhand her in the face (who would?), or for Wanderer to fall in love with one of the humans, Ian ( Jake Abel ). Let that sink in for a bit…

Yes, Melanie is in love with Jared, but Jared is conflicted about whether he should kill what looks like Melanie but is actually now Wanderer, and Wanderer (who eventually goes by Wanda because Wanderer is too much of a mouthful) falls in love with Ian and vice versa. The love between this alien soul and slow-witted human is expressed in a scene that should have resulted in the torching of the film’s negative before it could ever be screened for an audience.

While all this is going on, a stone-cold dedicated Seeker (played by Diane Kruger ) will do anything to capture Wanderer as she drives around in her mirror-plated Lotus… Oh, yes, I forgot to mention, everything the Seekers use for transportation is mirror-plated. A mirror-plated Lotus, which I wonder how that purchase order went down. Mirror-plated motorcycles and mirror-plated helicopters. Why? Well, let’s be honest, shiny things are, like, really cool and really science-fictiony!

And while Lotus may still be in business making shiny cars, all other labels have been abandoned. For example, people no longer shop at Target or Safeway in this new peaceful society, they now shop at Store, which doesn’t carry Campbell’s soup or any other name brands, only “Tomato Soup” and the like. I guess once the time came to add more product placement everyone just gave up when they saw the silver Lotus. After all, you can’t top that.

So Wanda loves Ian, Ian loves Wanda, but Melanie is in Wanda and Melanie loves Jared and Jared is all confused. How this will all work out in the end, I have no idea. After all, how can there be a peaceful conclusion to a love square where the alien species is learning the value of human existence and has even scored a boyfriend that doesn’t mind she hears voices in her head and responds by talking to herself? The possibilities are endless given the pedigree of the source material.

The Host is essentially a sci-fi version of a Nicholas Sparks movie, but I’m comfortable saying I’d rather watch almost anything adapted from Sparks’ work before revisiting this film again. The film lacks intrigue on such a level that we are meant to be in awe at the sight of a wheat field inside a cave. Wanderer has been all over the galaxy, is over 1,000 years old and she’s told, “I bet you’ve never seen anything as amazing as this.” Shoot me, shoot me now.

As much as I would love to let Niccol off the hook for this one, not only did he direct it, but he also adapted the screenplay. And not only are scenes redundant of one another as the film plays out for two hours, the dialogue and plot development are so atrocious at 30 minutes in I reached a point where I really couldn’t take any more. I eventually had to will myself to remain seated, with the only joy I was experiencing coming from the laughter of the rest of the audience around me.

The Host may not actually be the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it certainly felt that way while watching it. Fans of Meyer’s work may attempt to defend it, but, for me, this as a film that is 100% indefensible.

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Movie Review: The Host (2013)

• Greg Eichelberger
• Movie Reviews
• 7 responses
• --> March 30, 2013

Beware the blue eyes.

It’s been done, this whole alien taking over a human’s body thing in movies. It’s been done and done better. The concept goes back at least to the 1950s with “ The Thing from Another World ” and the original “ Invasion of the Body Snatchers .” Now, for the umpteenth time, we get the same premise — only this time it’s meshed with an “epic” love story from the creator of “ Twilight ,” worldwide bestselling author, Stephenie Meyer.

That’s far from a positive recommendation, however.

When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, audiences can only pray for the same fate. I’m still trying to delete this epic from my head. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol (“ Gattaca “), The Host tells the tale of Melanie (Saoirse Ronan, “ Hanna “) a girl who jumps out of a window in the opening scene (just like most of us in the audience wished we could have done), but survives to be replaced by an otherworldly glob of glowing tentacle named “The Wanderer.” Its job is to read the mind of the human host and ultimately find other resisting bodies.

This is where Melanie and “The Wanderer” (later to be renamed “Wanda”) begin a long and drawn-out series of internal arguments, debates and conversations. This is also where the voices in my head began speaking to me, saying things like, “This film is terrible,” “Get out of the theater” and “Don’t stay here another minute.” Unfortunately, as I am a professional — somewhat — I was obligated to silence those thoughts and stay until the closing credits, a task not easily undertaken, believe me.

Leading her body and Wanda into the desert, The Host now introduces us to a hideout of rebellious humans featuring Jared (Max Irons, “ Red Riding Hood “), whom Melanie was in love with, and her little brother, Jamie (Chandler Canterbury, “ A Bag of Hammers “). We also get to meet another stud, Ian (Jake Abel, “ Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief “), as well as Uncle Jeb (William Hurt, who actually won an Oscar for “ Kiss of the Spider Woman ,” but now sports a cracker accent that would make Larry the Cable Guy cringe) and a doctor that looks like Barack Obama’s twin brother.

Seducing a human.

Still continuing to argue with herself and getting slapped by just about everyone she initially meets (just one of many totally unintentionally hilarious scenes throughout this picture), Wanda succeeds in seducing both Jared and Ian while utilizing one emotion: A completely blank stare with mouth usually agape. Jed and Jamie seem to trust her, although the haggard Aunt Maggie (Frances Fisher, who was also haggard in 1992’s “ Unforgiven “) hates the intruder and refuses her water while the group is harvesting wheat (yes, in the desert, thanks to a series of mirrors). All the while there are several tepid make-out scenes going on and the humans venture out of their lair to steal food and provisions, while a demented alien security officer, or “Seeker” (Diane Kruger, “ Inglourious Basterds “), is searching Monument Valley for the resistance, even killing her own to get at them.

When all of these things — plus the very real possibility of a sequel to The Host — come together in a mindless conclusion, bits of plot and storylines fly about and we’re left with nothing but a long, tedious, misadventure that has this author writing something he never thought he would: I miss the subtle nuances of the “Twilight” series and especially the multifaceted talents of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

Please kill me . . .

Tagged: aliens , invasion , novel adaptation

I have been a movie fan for most of my life and a film critic since 1986 (my first published review was for "Platoon"). Since that time I have written for several news and entertainment publications in California, Utah and Idaho. Big fan of the Academy Awards - but wish it would go back to the five-minute dinner it was in May, 1929. A former member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and current co-host of "The Movie Guys," each Sunday afternoon on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego with Kevin Finnerty.

Movie Review: Despicable Me 3 (2017) Movie Review: Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) Movie Review: All Eyez On Me (2017) Movie Review: The Mummy (2017) Movie Review: Baywatch (2017) Movie Review: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Movie Review: The Promise (2016)

'Movie Review: The Host (2013)' have 7 comments

March 30, 2013 @ 6:03 am Butch

Didn’t take long for Hollywood to jump onto another Stephenie Meyer project now that their love-sick vampire tale has run its course.

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March 30, 2013 @ 9:24 am Bill

HOST or The HOST, whatever: time in minutes to insert soul* (estimated) 5 number of souls inserted by 1 healer in 12 hr wk day (no breaks) 144 earth’s human population (approximately) 6,500,000,000 number of souls inserted by 1 healer in 1yr (no holidays/weekends) 52,560 number of healers required to do job in 10 years** (estimated time passage from movie) 12,367 *Who put in the 1st one? How did he/she know how? **in which time souls clean up earth environment except for muscle cars

March 30, 2013 @ 11:41 am Gary Rojos

This is the Mayan Apocalypse.

April 22, 2013 @ 4:42 am INC

That started with Twilight.

March 30, 2013 @ 8:10 pm Spence

Wait a second … are you implying Kristen Stewart is a better actress than Saoirse Ronan? I’m ending it all right now if that’s the case …

April 3, 2013 @ 10:30 am Tom Darch

Doe-eyed love shit aside, I’d be interested to see a movie told from the alien perspective,

July 12, 2013 @ 3:25 pm buffet

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Common sense media reviewers.

Lots of kisses, but "Twi"-fi thriller isn't that compelling.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The positive message is that people will band toge

Melanie refuses to allow herself to be fully absor

Melanie throws herself through a window as a suici

Lots of passionate kissing/touching between differ

A couple of uses of "hell," "damn,&

Mercedes, Jeeps, and Lotus vehicles are prominentl

Parents need to know that even though author Stephenie Meyer intended her sci-fi novel The Host for adult readers, the big-screen adaptation is just as teen friendly as the Twilight saga -- but with aliens instead of supernatural characters. There's a whole lot of passionate kissing, and two…

Positive Messages

The positive message is that people will band together and fight for their freedom, even when it looks like all is lost. Humanity -- in all of its flawed complexity -- is exalted for its will to live, to survive. Other themes include the power of the sibling bond, self reliance, and friendship.

Positive Role Models

Melanie refuses to allow herself to be fully absorbed by her alien parasite. She makes her thoughts and feelings known and implores her body's alien (called Wanda) to help her keep her loved ones safe. Uncle Jeb, Ian, and Jamie are able to accept Wanda and the fact that Melanie is still alive in Wanda's consciousness. Wanda is an alien but is willing to empathize with Melanie and her friends.

Violence & Scariness

Melanie throws herself through a window as a suicidal act, plunging to her apparent death -- but she lives long enough to be implanted with a parasitic alien. A young boy cuts himself deeply with a sickle. Another character cuts herself (with bloody results) to get a doctor to heal her (part of a larger plan). The body count includes alien "Souls" and humans who are shot or sacrifice themselves in a car crash. Characters have guns (and there's a sword), and weapons are discharged and used to hold people at gunpoint. Some chase/pursuit scenes. Some slapping and yelling between characters; one character tries to strangle another. Humans are opened up to insert the aliens.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Lots of passionate kissing/touching between different couples, and some allusions to sex. There are also a couple of scenes that make it clear that Melanie and Jared were intimate (in one of them, Jared is shirtless, and his entire back down to his tailbone is visible on the bed). A character wears a suggestive nightgown in an early scene.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

A couple of uses of "hell," "damn," "ass," and "oh God" (as an exclamation), plus insults hurled at Wanderer -- "it," "thing," "parasite."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Mercedes, Jeeps, and Lotus vehicles are prominently displayed in several scenes.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that even though author Stephenie Meyer intended her sci-fi novel The Host for adult readers, the big-screen adaptation is just as teen friendly as the Twilight saga -- but with aliens instead of supernatural characters. There's a whole lot of passionate kissing, and two young adult characters (in the book, they're specifically described as an older teenage girl and her twentysomething boyfriend) who are revealed to be lovers share a couple of mild sex scenes (mostly just making out in bed, with the man barechested). Given the genre, it's not unusual that there's also violence: People (both alien and human) are shot, commit suicide, and gravely injured. But as in all of Meyer's stories, there's a happily ever after, as well as themes of humans banding together to fight for their freedom and the ability to live and survive. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (8)
• Kids say (30)

Based on 8 parent reviews

Ignore the critics

Fantastic movie., what's the story.

In the near future, a race of nomadic parasitic aliens -- called "Souls" -- have taken over humanity. The jellyfish-looking aliens are injected into humans, whose minds are then suppressed as the aliens take control, turning their hosts' eyes silver. Melanie Stryker ( Saoirse Ronan ), a member of the dwindling human resistance, purposely diverts a group of aliens by throwing herself out a window. But she survives and is implanted with her new alien Soul, Wanderer. Unlike other human hosts who fade away completely, Melanie's consciousness continues to speak to Wanderer and persuades her to evade her alien interrogator ( Diane Kruger ) and go to the desert hideout where Melanie's boyfriend, Jared ( Max Irons ), and little brother, Jamie (Chandler Canterbury), are staying. Only they don't see Melanie -- just the alien who's taken her body. Slowly, Wanderer -- dubbed Wanda by Melanie's wise uncle Jeb ( William Hurt ) -- starts to make alliances, including a confusing attraction to Ian (Jake Abel), Jared's more open-minded friend.

Is It Any Good?

As sci-fi movies go, THE HOST is one part Invasion of the Body Snatchers and three parts maudlin romance. Director Andrew Niccol doesn't bother with much world building except for the fact that the pacifist Souls all have a thing for wearing shades of white and driving souped-up silver Lotuses; there's no real explanation for the hypocrisy of a supposedly pacifist alien race thinking that it's all right to parasitically control an entire species. And while reading the back and forth between Wanderer and Melanie made perfect sense in the book, the movie translates that by having a narrated dialogue with two different inflections -- Wanderer's smooth tones and Melanie's faux Louisianan accent.

While teen (and adult) viewers who are only interested in the steamy kisses and the mind-bending love quadrangle will be content, most audiences will laugh at The Host 's unintentionally funny moments -- like pretty much every time the Melanie voice speaks. Ronan, who's riveting in films like Atonement and Hanna , is deserving of better, although at the very least she manages to pull off her romantic moments with both Melanie's love Jared and Wanda's suitor Ian with conviction. Too bad the movie is more of a frothy alien romance than a true science-fiction thriller.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about alien movies and their enduring popularity. How does The Host compare to other invasion/take-over movies in which the aliens are more overtly violent?

Stephenie Meyer has said that the book The Host was based on isn't YA but rather a sci-fi romance for grown-ups. Are there any aspects of the movie or story that you think make it more appealing to adults than teens? How do you think this story compares to Meyer's Twilight series ?

Book fans, what characters or plot points do you wish had been included in the movie? Which changes did you like?

Movie Details

• In theaters : March 29, 2013
• On DVD or streaming : July 9, 2013
• Cast : Diane Kruger , Max Irons , Saoirse Ronan
• Director : Andrew Niccol
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Open Road Films
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Topics : Book Characters , Space and Aliens
• Run time : 121 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some sensuality and violence
• Last updated : February 29, 2024

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• When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie Stryder risks everything to protect the people she cares about.
• A body-snatching alien takes possession of a young woman who refuses to surrender her mind, and together they seek out the man they both love as Writer and Director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca (1997), In Time (2011)) adapts Twilight author Stephenie Meyer's New York Times best-seller. The majority of the human race have been possessed by unseen invaders, leaving only small pockets of "wild" humans like Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) scattered throughout the world. Upon being captured by the invaders, Melanie finds her body claimed by Wanderer, a spirit that has been warned of the difficulties that come with claiming a human host. In the process of inhabiting Melanie, Wanderer is deeply affected by her vivid dreams and memories. And when Melanie fights to maintain control of her mind even as Wanderer possesses her body, the sympathetic entity joins her on a journey that will reveal the unfathomable depths of human love and compassion.
• In the distant future, the human race has been assimilated by extraterrestrial, non-coporial, psychic parasites called "Souls". The Souls travel to distant planets en masse, in individual capsules, inserting themselves individually into a host body of that planet's dominant species. The Soul completely replaces the consciousness of its host, though they are able to access the host's memories. Occupied hosts are identifiable by silver rings that form in the hosts' eyes. A teenager named Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is captured and infused with a soul called "Wanderer". Wanderer is asked by the Seeker (Diane Kruger) to access Melanie's memories in order to discover the location of a pocket of non-assimilated humans. Surprisingly, Melanie's consciousness has not been eliminated, and it struggles for control of her body. Melanie and Wanderer are able to carry out an internal conversation with each other, forming something of a friendship. Wanderer does share with the Seeker that Melanie was traveling with her younger brother, Jamie (Chandler Canterbury) and her boyfriend, Jared Howe (Max Irons), to find Melanie's uncle Jeb (William Hurt) in the desert. Wanderer admits that Melanie is still present, so Seeker decides to be transferred into Melanie's body to get the information herself. With the help of Melanie, Wanderer escapes from the city and makes her way to the desert, where she is eventually found by Jeb, who takes her to a series of caves hidden inside a mountain, where the pocket of humans (including Jared and Jamie) is hiding. Wanderer's presence in the shelter is met with hostility by all but Jeb. Seeing this, Melanie instructs Wanderer not to tell anyone she is still alive, fearing that doing so would only provoke them, though she later allows her to tell Jamie, to put his mind at ease. Wanderer begins interacting with the humans and participating in their harvest, and slowly begins to gain their trust, as well as forming a bond with human Ian O'Shea (Jake Abel). Through this, she begins to sympathize with them, and question her species' actions. Meanwhile, the Seeker leads a search party into the desert to find Wanderer. They intercept one of the shelter's supply teams, and in the ensuing chase, two of the human resistance fighters, Aaron and Brandt, commit suicide to avoid capture and conversion. During the chase, Seeker accidentally kills another Soul, leading her superiors to call off the search for Wanderer. Returning to the caves, a vengeful Jared and Kyle move to kill Wanderer, causing Jamie to reveal that Melanie's consciousness is still alive. Ian accepts this, showing concern for the two beings in one body. Jared refuses to believe him, but, after having a dream about Melanie, attempts to determine the truth by kissing Wanderer, provoking Melanie to slap him away, and he realises that she is indeed still alive. Kyle makes another attempt on Wanderer's life, but she knocks him into a deadly whirlpool. She pulls him to safety and does not tell the others that he had attacked her. Ian believes that Kyle had attacked Wanderer and tells her that he loves her, insisting that Wanderer's own personality (such as protecting Kyle) is what he loves, rather than Melanie's body. Wanderer admits that, while occupying Melanie's body, she must love Jared, but that she has feelings of her own, and the two share a kiss, creating an unusual love trianglethree bodies and four minds. Sometime later, Wanderer enters the community's medical facility, and discovers that Doc has been experimenting with ways to remove Souls and allow the host's mind to regain control, resulting in the deaths many Souls and Hosts from his failed experiments. Traumatized, she rushes from the facility, screaming at a protesting Melanie to "get out of my head!" After isolating herself for several days, Wanderer learns that Jamie is critically ill with a high fever and infection in his leg due to injuring himself with a knife. She infiltrates a Soul medical facility to steal some of their alien medicine, saving Jamie's life. The Seeker has continued looking for Wanderer on her own. Jeb captures Seeker and imprisons her in the caves. Wanderer offers to show Doc the proper method of removing Souls, on the condition that he remove her from Melanie's body and let her die. Doc uses the technique to successfully remove Seeker from her host, with Host and Soul both surviving. Wanderer takes the Seeker alien to a Soul space-travel site, where she sends it to a planet far enough from Earth that it can not return within anyone's lifetime. The plan is to continue freeing hosts and sending the souls to distant planets. After learning that Wanderer wants to die when she is removed, the humans are upset. On the operating table, Melanie and Wanderer share an emotional farewell. But, due to the intervention of the rest of the group, Doc instead inserts Wanderer into Pet (Emily Browning), a human who was left brain-dead after the Soul inside her was removed, thereby ensuring that Wanderer can live without harming a human. Pet is said to be petite and small, with a face "that no one could mistrust." Now with a body of her own, she and Ian form a relationship, while Melanie is finally reunited with Jared. A few months later, while on a supply-gathering trip, Wanderer, Melanie, Ian and Jared are captured. They discover that their captors are actually humans, who reveal that there are several other human groups as well. The also learn that there is a Soul with this group that has sided with the flourishing human resistance, as Wanderer has, and they may not be the last Souls to do so.

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Eclectic Pop

Movie review: 'the host' (2013).

Rating: 7/10

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THE HOST (2013)

"chick flick romance sci-fi".

What You Need To Know:

(B, C, PP, Ro, Pa, L, VV, SS, N, M) A light moral, redemptive worldview portraying freedom-loving humans fighting alien creatures taking over human brains and minds, with overt stress on the importance of love in various forms, but no mention of reliance on God for help and no biblical foundation, with some Romantic and pagan elements; five obscenities (mostly “h” words with a “d” word and an a** word) and four light OG profanities; brief strong violence such as people make small cuts in necks of other people to let small alien light creature to go in and out of someone’s head, boy accidentally cuts his leg and it gets infected, man tries to strangle woman but she fights backs, woman deliberately jumps out window to kill herself so aliens won’t find her little brother, woman shoots man in head, man drives directly into wall to avoid capture by aliens, car flips over, another man has been killed and his body is shown on a road; one dream sequence sex scene with implied fornication but showing apparently naked under covers passionately kissing woman in bra, other passionate kissing scenes, and two men fall for two different beings occupying same body; no alcohol; no smoking or drugs; and, the main idea of the story is alien creatures are taking control of human bodies, and these beings are referred to as “souls” who live in different bodies on different planets in the course of a very long lifetime.

More Detail:

THE HOST is a chick-flick science fiction movie based on a novel by Stephenie Meyer, the author of the TWILIGHT series about vampires and werewolves. The bizarre romance, featuring two guys in love with the two “girls” living in one body, is marred by a gratuitous dream sequence sex scene.

The movie opens with a seemingly perfect society where everyone is honest, kind, and generous: they’re just not human. What the movie refers to as “souls” (alien beings) are placed in human bodies. There are very few humans left on the planet, and they must hide from the “seekers” responsible for hunting down the remaining humans.

A human named Melanie is trying to lead some seekers away from her brother when she’s surrounded. She jumps through a window and falls several floors, hoping her death will keep the seekers from finding her brother. She does not die, however. The aliens use their technology to heal her wounds, and a “soul” named Wanderer is placed in her.

Melanie’s body becomes home to both Wanderer and Melanie. Throughout the movie, a voiceover gives a running mental conversation between Melanie and Wanderer. At first, Wanderer works with the seekers to track down other humans by seeing Melanie’s memories. With Melanie’s encouragement, Wanderer softens, stops helping the seekers, and begins to help Melanie get to her brother.

They wind up near death in a desert and are found by the people with whom her brother lives. Conflict arises about whether this mixed being should be killed. Wanderer winds up earning the trust of the group’s leader and winning over several other humans in the hiding place.

THE HOST is very entertaining science fiction, but female viewers probably will like it more than males. The movie’s bizarre twist on romance is that it winds up with two guys in love with the two different beings in Melanie’s body. There’s some humor in the verbal battle between Melanie and Wanderer as the same body winds up kissing the two guys.

Despite some positive moral, redemptive elements, the movie’s idea that humans can be taken over by aliens is grounds for a good family discernment discussion. Humans have souls. Jesus told Nicodemus that people must be born again. The concept is that you choose to die to the selfish human nature and live life guided by the Holy Spirit. Unlike Stephanie Meyer’s science fiction mind takeover, you don’t lose control of your life. You must choose to obey God on a moment-by-moment basis. You only lose control when possessed by demonic spirits, but you have to invite the demonic power(s) into your soul. Also, lust, greed, envy, and assorted addictions can become like slave masters. The Good News is that Jesus can set you free, but freedom requires repentance, faith, trust, and obedience.

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