The Host (2013)
Average Rating: 3.6/10
Reviews Counted: 113
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 103
Poorly scripted and dramatically ineffective, The Host is mostly stale and tedious, with moments of unintentional hilarity.
Average Rating: 4.2/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 26
Poorly scripted and dramatically ineffective, The Host is mostly stale and tedious, with moments of unintentional hilarity.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 29,303
My Rating
Movie Info
What if everything you love was taken from you in the blink of an eye? "The Host" is the next epic love story from the creator of the "Twilight Saga," worldwide bestselling author, Stephenie Meyer. When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) will risk everything to protect the people she cares most about - Jared (Max Irons), Ian (Jake Abel), her brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury) and her Uncle Jeb (William Hurt)
Cast
-
Saoirse Ronan
Melanie, Wanderer -
Max Irons
Jared Howe -
Jake Abel
Ian -
Chandler Canterbury
Jamie -
Diane Kruger
The Seeker -
Frances Fisher
Maggie -
William Hurt
Jeb
ADVERTISEMENT
The Host Trailer & Photos
All Critics (113) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (103)
This is pretty silly stuff, Twi-lite if you will, but played with maximum solemnity, no discernible humor and minimal excitement.
Top Critic[A] bizarre Saturday Night Live sketch about a girl with a bratty alien inside her.
The Host isn't very good as a romance. There's not very much passion on screen, which makes the film a poor cousin to Twilight.
The movie's structure is awkward. There's no real narrative thrust.
The Host's infelicities-drab dialogue, ridiculous plotting, more emotional crises than there is story-are enlivened by its thematic eccentricities.
Fear and dread of "the other" have long ruled American science fiction, fantasy, suspense thrillers and politics... How jarring then, and refreshing, to see The Host... take the invaders' point of view.
Beyond Meyer's trite-and-untrue formula (supernatural love triangle, exotic locale, family values and kisses as daring and transgressive), corpse-stiff dialogue, flat action sequences and a confused allegory make this movie particularly stultifying piffle
You might despise the 'Twilight' series and still find something to appreciate here...at least it's original.
Catnip for the cooing teen female set but far less engaging and rewarding for anyone else.
And you thought Twilight was bad...
This limply directed, solidly boring slice of sci-fi twaddle features humanoid aliens who spend much of their screen time staring blankly into the middle distance with glazed eyes. About 10 minutes into this dross, you'll know what that feels like.
Just like her Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer's 2008 novel The Host becomes another feature in which people are standing around and brooding ( ... ) Proof that it's not easy to make thoughts seem riveting when little is happening.
Niccol crafts some arresting imagery, though the slow pacing and droning new age score makes everything feel like an endless Ambien commercial.
Resistance is futile.
It's a reasonably intriguing premise, but the alien invasion soon takes a back seat to the kind of tiresome teen angst where crucial plot points hinge on a kiss.
So badly scripted, performed and directed that it literally destroyed my faith in humanity.
Three bodies plus four minds is some fertile arithmetic, but The Host can't be bothered with the intellectual or kinky ramifications of its setup.
There's much grave talk of souls in this sci-fi romance. Ironic, then, that it ends up being such a soulless and trifling affair.
It's bewildering how sci-fi aficionado Andrew Niccol ("Gattaca," "The Truman Show") could mastermind such a parasitic mess.
Yeah...um...no...don't ever do this again please.
Come back Bella and Edward - all is forgiven.
Saoirse Ronan is a talented young actress but the silly dialogue and convoluted plot make this movie average in so many ways.
Stephenie Meyer has found a whole new way for teen girls to be conflicted about sex...
This is not the first time that Meyer's muddled prose has dragged an interesting director to his artistic doom.
This is a flaccid affair ...
Compounding the dismal storytelling is Niccol's general disregard for narrative structure and pacing.
Audience Reviews for The Host
-
- Jeb: I always liked Science-Fiction stories; never dreamed I'd be living in one.
- Wanderer: Be happy Mel that after living so many lives, I've finally found something to die for.
-
- Ian: You are not leaving me.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| This movie is SO GOOD!!!! | 4 days ago | 6 |
| This Novel was Adult | 8 days ago | 1 |
| Really 9% | 9 days ago | 29 |
| It was bad as everyone said. Very disappointed. | 11 days ago | 0 |
| Fuck no | 15 days ago | 91 |
Latest News on The Host
March 29, 2013:
Critics Consensus: G.I. Joe: Retaliation Hits a RoadblockThis week at the movies, we've got real American heroes (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, starring Dwayne "The...
March 28, 2013:
In Pictures: Aliens Infiltrating Earth Society!
March 28, 2013:
Video Interviews with The Host Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, and Jake AbelTo the unschooled, The Host is just a movie about aliens taking over the planet and leaving teenage...
What's Hot On RT
Movies Directed by Tyler Perry
Blockbuster news and reviews
Ellen Page in an intriguing new thriller
A gallery of classic books on film
Featured on RT
- Total Recall: Movies Directed by Tyler Perry 36
- Parental Guidance: The Great Gatsby, Jack Reacher, and Safe Haven 5
- Video Interview: Aftershock Producer Eli Roth 3
- Ray Harryhausen: 1920-2013 32
- Digital Multiplex: Cloud Atlas, Pulp Fiction and more 4
- RT on DVD and Blu-Ray: Jack Reacher, Mama, and Upstream Color 34
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Iron Man 3 Soars Above the Rest 64
Top Headlines
-
Baz Luhrmann Wants DiCaprio for Hamlet
1
-
Bryan Singer Shooting X-Men: Days of Future Past in 3D and Simul-Cam
0
-
Avatar Sequels Shooting in 2014
2
-
Shane Black Confirmed for Doc Savage
0
-
Warner Bros. Plans New Dungeons & Dragons Movie
3
-
Adam Scott in Talks for Hot Tub Time Machine 2
0
-
Summit Already Thinking About Divergent Sequel
1
Fresh Links
Featured
10 Best Movie Trilogies
Pretty self-explanatory here; HitFix offers up their favorite trilogies of all time.
10 Jilted Movie Grooms
Feeling a little sappy? Here are 10 movie grooms who were left at the altar.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
50 Youth-Gone-Wild Movies
TimeOut lists the best movies about youth and rebellion.
30 Greatest Rock & Roll Movie Moments
Rolling Stone boldly proclaims the rockin'-est moments in cinema.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Les Âmes Vagabondes (FR)
- La huésped (ES)
If your a teenage girl, maybe around 13 you might love this movie. Otherwise, do not waste your time.
I am not entirely sure what else to say. I guess if this movie where the only plot lined story on at 3am in the middle of the night, when you have insomnia, then it might be worth watching, if your quite bored and have little else to do. The special effects are good enough. The setting is semi-absurd.
The aliens themselves lack character, culture, definition, and the human characters equally lack emotional depth, character definition.
There seems to be little in the way of character development either, and the "conflict" that normally drives the storyline was pretty inconsistent, and basically non-existent, same goes for the resolution and climax of the story.