The Host
Andrew Niccol
The story: A parasitic alien race has conquered Earth. Melanie Stryder’s (Saoirse Ronan) body is inhabited by a “soul” named Wanderer, but her consciousness refuses to just fade away. Eventually, they set off in search of her younger brother in a remote human hideout. There, she finds her boyfriend Jared (Max Irons) while another young man, Ian (Jake Abel), is drawn to Wanderer. Based on Stephenie Meyer’s 2008 book of the same name.

The last adaptation of a Stephenie Meyer’s work was a little series called Twilight. There are, naturally, some high expectations for The Host, but it is actually a very different creature altogether.
This feels like a more contemplative movie. After the basic premise has been set up, writer-director Andrew Niccol is happy to explore the ramifications in a low-key and understated manner.
Those familiar with his earlier works such as the sci-fi flick Gattaca (1997), starring Ethan Hawke as a genetically inferior man with big ambitions in a dystopian future, would not be too surprised by the approach.
The central idea here is of two personalities forced to share one body.
This has often been played for laughs such as in All Of Me (1984), in which Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin comically fought for control.
In The Host, though, the Melanie/ Wanderer struggle is played for dramatic effect.
The two start off as antagonists, as Melanie is understandably hostile towards the alien invader trying to probe her memories in order to ferret out the human resistance. Eventually, the two begin to, well, start seeing eye to eye.
Saoirse Ronan, nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in Atonement (2007), is quietly compelling to watch as she makes both Melanie’s trapped frustration and Wanderer’s growing awareness believable.
What is also interesting here is the kind-of love triangle that is set up.
Melanie is in love with Jared (Max Irons from 2011’s Red Riding Hood) while Ian (Jake Abel from 2010’s Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief) falls for Wanderer.
The catch, of course, is that Melanie and Wanderer share one body. Some of what transpires treads on giggly teenage romance territory as when Wanderer kisses Jared and Melanie gets jealous.
The film is refreshingly honest. Wanderer tells Ian that he does not love her, but is merely in love with Melanie’s body. After all, her physical form is a tentacled ball of light and she adds that if Ian could hold that in his arms, he would crush her.
Adding excitement to the romantic tension are aliens hot on the trail of the humans, with The Seeker (Diane Kruger) particular hellbent on their destruction.
The various threads are resolved by the end, some more clumsily than others, and the tacked-on coda could have been dropped.
Still, for a good stretch The Host envelops you in its strange world.
(ST)