Review of The Host (2013) by Adrian Z — 04 Aug 2013

Another snoozefest based on Stephenie "Twilight" Meyer's books. Aliens, who strangely reckon themselves to be peaceful although they are carrying out a genocide of sorts, invade Earth by taking over and inhabiting bodies, whose memories then become suppressed.

An enclave of humans who have not been assimilated resist the invasion. So far, so "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", right? Wrong. Apparently, there is no room for gritty suspense in Meyer's world.

What actually follows is a languid soap opera in which people say, do, and feel things that hardly make sense. Saoirse Ronan plays a resistance fighter whose body gets taken over, but whose human mind remains active, active enough to become a supremely grating disembodied voice that constantly argues with the invader.

No wonder then, the alien is virtually numbed into aiding her cause. Ronan makes her way back to her people, encounters trust issues because she is now "maybe perhaps one of them", and gets into a love triangle with well groomed boys living and tending to wheat fields in a desert cave.

If at least the film acknowledged how silly (read stupid) it all is by providing audiences with knowing winks - it doesn't. Far from it, much like those other vampire movies, it takes itself extremely seriously.

Predictably, It's left wide open so that sequels may follow.