The Host

The Host is an American science fiction film, adapted from Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol,[4] the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, and Jake Abel. It was released on March 29, 2013 and April 4, 2013 in Asia. The film has been generally panned by critics and performed modestly in box office sales.

Plot

In the future, the human race has been assimilated by benevolent extraterrestrial psychic parasites called "Souls". Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan), a human, is captured by the Seeker (Diane Kruger) and infused with a soul called "Wanderer", in order to discover the location of one of the last pockets of non-assimilated humans. However, Melanie survives the procedure and begins to struggle for control of her body.
Wanderer discovers that Melanie was captured while scavenging for food with her brother Jamie Stryder (Chandler Canterbury) and her boyfriend Jared Howe (Max Irons), and that they were looking for Melanie's uncle Jeb Stryder (William Hurt), who lives in a cabin in the desert. Wanderer loses control of Melanie and the Seeker decides to put Wanderer in a different body and be inserted into Melanie to get the information herself. With the help of Melanie, Wanderer escapes and makes her way to the desert, eventually found by a group of humans, including Jeb. She is taken to a series of underground caves, discovering that Jared and Jamie are living there too.
Wanderer is kept isolated from the others, eventually interacting with the humans, and develops feelings for one of them, Ian O'Shea (Jake Abel), beginning to believe the Souls shouldn't steal other people's free will. Eventually, Jeb, Jamie and Ian realize Melanie is still alive, while The Seeker learns that the community is located somewhere in the desert and follows Wanderer there, but fails to locate them. After nearly being captured by the Seeker, Ian's brother Kyle O'Shea (Boyd Holbrook) attempts to kill Wanderer, but is stopped by Ian and another human, Wes, after which Jared also learns that Melanie is still alive.
Wanderer is horrified to learn that Doc (Scott Lawrence), the community's medic, has been experimenting on people infused with Souls, removing the Souls from their bodies and killing them, and isolates herself from the group, but agrees to help Jared infiltrate a Soul medical facility to steal technology to cure the ill Jamie. In the process, they are attacked by the Seeker, who is then shot and captured by Jeb. The Seeker is taken to the caves, where she is removed from her host and contained in a pod stolen by Wanderer, who then sends the Seeker to a distant planet.
Wanderer teaches Doc how to remove the Souls from people's bodies without harming them, and asks to be removed from Melanie's so Melanie can have her life back. Melanie protests, having bonded with Wanderer, but Doc goes through with the procedure. However, rather than letting Wanderer die, Doc inserts her into Pet (Emily Browning), a human who was left brain-dead after the Soul inside her was removed. Wanderer, now in Pet's body, begins a relationship with Ian, while Melanie reunites with Jared. A few months later, Wanderer and the others meet another group of humans who have been joined by Souls who have decided to live peacefully among them.

Cast

Main article: List of The Host characters

Production

Development

Producers Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, and Paula Mae Schwartz acquired the film rights to The Host in September 2009, but Open Road Films later acquired the film rights, and made Stephenie Meyer, Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, and Paula Mae Schwartz the main producers.[11] Andrew Niccol was hired to write the screenplay and to direct the film. In February 2011, Susanna White was hired to replace Niccol as director, but he later resumed the role in May 2011. Saoirse Ronan was also cast in May as Melanie Stryder/Wanderer. On June 27, the release date was set for the film for March 29, 2013, and it was also announced that principal photography would begin in February 2012, in Louisiana and New Mexico.[8][12] The film received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for "some sensuality and violence." [13]

Music

Main article: The Host (soundtrack)
The score for The Host was composed by Antonio Pinto.

Release

Distributed by Open Road Films, the film was released in theaters on March 29, 2013. The first official trailer was released on March 22, 2012 and was later shown before The Hunger Games.[14]

Reception

The Host has been panned by critics, currently holding a 9% 'rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 104 reviews. The consensus states: "Poorly scripted and dramatically ineffective, The Host is mostly stale and tedious, with moments of unintentional hilarity."
CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B-" on a scale of A+ to F.
IGN gave it a "mediocre" score of 5/10, stating that the movie is "unintentionally laughable" and "frustratingly absurd".[15]
The Host was the penultimate film to be reviewed by film critic Roger Ebert before his death on April 4, 2013, and the last to be published in his lifetime (his last reviewed film was of Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, which was published a few days after his death). He rated the film 2.5/4 stars, saying "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."

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