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The Host

  • 2013
  • PG-13
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
121K
YOUR RATING
Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, and Jake Abel in The Host (2013)
A parasitic alien soul is injected into the body of Melanie Stryder. Instead of carrying out her race's mission of taking over the Earth, "Wanda" (as she comes to be called) forms a bond with her host and sets out to aid other free humans.
Play trailer2:32
30 Videos
99+ Photos
Alien InvasionTeen AdventureActionAdventureDramaRomanceSci-FiThriller

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.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.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.

  • Director
    • Andrew Niccol
  • Writers
    • Andrew Niccol
    • Stephenie Meyer
  • Stars
    • Saoirse Ronan
    • Max Irons
    • Jake Abel
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.8/10
    121K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Andrew Niccol
    • Writers
      • Andrew Niccol
      • Stephenie Meyer
    • Stars
      • Saoirse Ronan
      • Max Irons
      • Jake Abel
    • 443User reviews
    • 271Critic reviews
    • 35Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations total

    Videos30

    Version #3
    Trailer 2:32
    Version #3
    U.S. Version #2
    Trailer 2:17
    U.S. Version #2
    U.S. Version #2
    Trailer 2:17
    U.S. Version #2
    No. 1
    Trailer 1:22
    No. 1
    IMDb Original Interview: The Host, Diane Kruger
    Clip 4:07
    IMDb Original Interview: The Host, Diane Kruger
    The Host: The Best Of Everything (Bonus Clip)
    Clip 1:08
    The Host: The Best Of Everything (Bonus Clip)
    The Host: Mirrors
    Clip 1:00
    The Host: Mirrors

    Photos287

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    Top Cast57

    Edit
    Saoirse Ronan
    Saoirse Ronan
    • Melanie…
    Max Irons
    Max Irons
    • Jared
    Jake Abel
    Jake Abel
    • Ian
    Rachel Roberts
    Rachel Roberts
    • Soul Fleur
    Shyaam Karra
    Shyaam Karra
    • Soul Anshu
    Brent Wendell Williams
    • Soul Winters
    Jhil McEntyre
    • Soul Lake
    Jalen Coleman
    • Soul Nafisa
    Diane Kruger
    Diane Kruger
    • Seeker…
    Stephen Rider
    Stephen Rider
    • Seeker Reed
    Jaylen Moore
    Jaylen Moore
    • Seeker Song
    Stephen Conroy
    Stephen Conroy
    • Seeker Sands
    Marcus Lyle Brown
    Marcus Lyle Brown
    • Healer Fords
    Michael L. Parker
    Michael L. Parker
    • Seeker Wolfe
    • (as Michael Parker)
    Phil Austin
    Phil Austin
    • Seeker Waverley
    Chandler Canterbury
    Chandler Canterbury
    • Jamie
    JD Evermore
    JD Evermore
    • Trevor Stryder
    • (as J.D. Evermore)
    William Hurt
    William Hurt
    • Jeb
    • Director
      • Andrew Niccol
    • Writers
      • Andrew Niccol
      • Stephenie Meyer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews443

    5.8121.1K
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    Featured reviews

    7clarestemp86-394-630195

    A good movie, an okay book adaptation

    I have read the book before the movie came out, but ill give a movie review separate from my book ideals of what it should have been.

    As a movie on its own, its good. Not great. They have a little bit of action, and when i say little, i do mean little (under 5 minutes). There are some chrome vehicles, modern looking bland clothing etc. This movie is really about what makes us human. With a love triangle. Not nearly as dominant as it was in twilight. A very interesting premise for a movie. The acting was great, I really loved Jake Abel as Ian O'Shea. Dian kruger added some depth to her seeker attitude. Max Irons I found to be the weakest actor of the bunch, some of his lines were delivered poorly ("so help me"), but what really ties the cast in is William Hurt.He ties them all together, and ads some charm to his cliché lines that makes him very likable. Other noticeable actors were Scot Lawrence (Doc) and Francis Fisher (Maggie), but neither were given the screen time needed to develop any sort of charter, although it would have been ve3ry interesting to see. Nice scenery, and nice shots. The music (and some scene lacking) was great and added a indie touch to it.

    Now, based off the book this movie kinda blew it. it was extremely different, cutting out characters and adding things that never were. I personally felt that by making all the Aliens dress the same, drive the same vehicles took away from the depth of the battle between the resistance and aliens. They were supposed to be creative, and find individualism in human hosts, which was very lacking. Instead the movie went in the direction of aliens turning humans into one mass of boring un unique sheep. I also wish they had kept a few of Wanda's experiences from other worlds in the movie, even as flash backs etc. This movie lacked as a sci-fi, as all we see are humans with contacts. It lacked as a romance as her love interest was gone for most of it.

    If anything its a good movie about : "what is considered human? a and how shall we react that makes us human".

    Not bad, i enjoyed it anyways, and my husband actually stuck around to watch it too lol./
    5ma-cortes

    Sci-Fi combining visuals with character and romance , though the complicated story is still somewhat attractive

    The Host is a science fiction romance adventure based on the bestselling novel of the same title written by Stephenie Meyer, author of the ¨Twilight¨ saga. 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. Melanie is chased by the Seeker (Diane Kruger) in order to discover the location of a pocket of non-assimilated humans. 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. You will be one of us !. Love never dies !. Choose to believe !. Choose to fight !. Choose to love !. Choose to listen !. Choose your destiny !.

    The film is intensely romantic , but Wanderer and Melanie's twisted love stories with his young lovers turn out to be ridiculous and bewildering at times. Concerning 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 . Here writer and director Andrew Niccol : Gattaca (1997), In Time (2011) adapts Twilight author Stephenie Meyer's New York Times best-seller giving a passable and acceptable rendition but average . Thinking woman's sci-fi (read : no spaceships or explosions) along the lines of love stories like ¨Twilight¨. This infamous The Host version displays a great main and support cast providing nice interpretations , stars the usually serious Saoirse Ronan along with Diane Kruger , William Hurt , Frances Fisher , Chandler Canterbury , Max Irons , Scott Lawrence , Emily Browning , Bokeem Woodbine, among others .

    It contains glamorous and colorful cinematograpy by cameraman Roberto Schaefer. As well as New Age and metaphysical score by Antonio Pinto . The motion picture was original but heavily directed Andrew Niccol . He directed television commercials for over 10 years prior to his directing debut Gattaca (1997) . This great director , expert on Sci-Fi and fantasy movies started as a prestigious writer in Truman Show . But Niccol actually made his screenwriting and directing debut with Gattaca (1997) , a superb, well-acted sci-fi movie that raised issues of genetic engineering in a totalitarian environment. The plot of his films often revolve around artificial reality, such as gene manipulation in Gattaca (1997), the life of "Truman" in Truman Show (1998), the computer-generated actress in Simone (2002), the nature of aging in "In Time" and the fantastic extraterrestrial romance of "The Host". Rating : 5.5/10 . Passable and decent , but overlong and a bit boring .
    MoovyDawg

    Unexpectedly great

    I was invited to "The Host" premiere last night and was very impressed by the film. I'm not a Twilight fan and have not read the book; If anything I was very suspect of this film and for whatever reason even felt negatively towards it (in an eye-rolling manner).

    That said, I found myself walking out of the theater quite surprised. And yes, I still have my manhood and haven't transformed into "A Hoster" or a "Hostling" or whatever they may call the new breed. Honestly, I thought it had a wonderfully intriguing plot, good acting, and I was completely engaged. Yes, there was a bit of "romantic cheesiness" but it seemed to handle itself well and even poked fun of itself at times for this fact. I think if it wasn't for the excellent work of Niccol and Saoirse it might have easily slipped into laughable cheese, but amicably doesn't. Plenty of sophisticated action as well as thought-provoking concepts of love, loyalty, perseverance. A well rounded film overall. I especially enjoyed William Hurt but all the acting was on par.

    Perhaps the Twilights were focused on teenagers but as a 30something guy I really liked it. I would definitely recommend giving this movie a chance to all. I'm just in the market now for a shiny silver Lotus.
    4billygoat1071

    Sci-Fi And Kissing

    The Host has an intriguing conceit. It is about a post-apocalypse where aliens take control on every human body then the remaining unpossessed humans fear them despite that these aliens only want peace. The story might have an idea that the humans could be the real enemy here or it's just both of them. The Sci-Fi bits are pretty interesting but it doesn't end there. It's based on a young adult novel so definitely there will be teenage hormones scattered around the context. It has romance that is suppose to save their world and change their lives, but once again just like any other young adult film, the romance is nothing more than a bunch of good looking people falling in love and doing romantic cliché stuff. Love may not be a problem to these stories but this romance is terribly empty. They're just making out and saying ridiculously cheesy lines. It would have been a fascinating idea but it just can't get away from its typical teen angst.

    It is kind of similar to the recent young adult novel based film, Warm Bodies, except the antagonists in The Host are virtuous beings instead of ravenous monsters. It seems that both stories have the same morality. Humans are not the most peaceful beings either and maybe the order and mentality of both sides are the reason why they couldn't get along. When it goes to the romance, it says that Melanie and Wanda's love between the boys might revolt their world's condition. But it strays from its plot giving us a lousily told story and romance. Mostly the romance. It is noticeable that most of their "love" only rely on their lips. Which means they kiss a lot. We do not get to know much about why they care for each other, other than being one of the last normal human beings of their age. It is also filled with plot holes because of course it wants to appeal teens for the endless love that didn't even work. It is directed by Andrew Niccol who is somewhat a Sci-Fi expert but it looks like he's afraid that too much Sci-Fi than romance might disappoint these children. He could have been more indulgent.

    The film has a solid cast but not all of them standout. Saoirse Ronan plays two roles here and she fills enough heart on both characters. Diane Kruger looks like she is enjoying playing the film's villain. The roles of Max Irons and Jake Abel seems to be only designed for kissing, slapping, and sometimes strangling, leaving William Hurt being the only likable gentleman of the picture.

    The script explains some points of the concept which is fine in that way in spite of the plot holes but it gets terrible on the romance. There are dialogues that may get way out of hand, ends up being laughable. Even more laughable is one scene when the protagonist tries to wake up her subconscious by kissing her boyfriend. I don't know if I should blame anyone about it. I mean what choice does she have? Still, it's ridiculous. The film is at least stunning. It gets to explore something magnificent around. The exteriors serves a lot of intrigue to its world. It features shiny cars and choppers. Most of the action are well shot even though the action itself isn't really that interesting but everything in the film looks good.

    The Host is not interesting enough. It thematically talks about peace and stuff. Well, you can make peace out of love but the film only shows kissing and I think there is more in love than just making out. Hormonally, this could be a perfect escapism for teens. An apocalyptic world about relationships of these good looking couples with fast awesome cars crashing on the road. But the story seems to offer more. Again, they are unable to show it because the only fan service for adaptations of teen books is to follow every single sequence from the book because they love comparing. Too bad, they could have also shown what's behind the words as well. The Host is another victim of a generic young adult film adaptation that doesn't understand much of the meaning of the story, and throw away the most bland of all romances.
    8bahmanzadeh

    Definitely underrated

    This is a smart movie and I really loved every second of it, I should admit that first 15 minutes of the movie is slow and you should wait...you will see how it gets you!! Trust me and watch this movie with all your sole, you have to listen and understand what is happening. This movie has beautiful scenes and amazing music, OMG the music just melts in you and you lives in there. Finally Saoirse Ronan just killed it, specially the way she tells the story, you are connected to the movie soon and enjoy watching it, I remember her play in "the lovely bones" she is more mature now and always she's been consistent and so talented actress. This is one of my favorite movies ever. 8/10

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    Related interests

    Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in Men in Black (1997)
    Alien Invasion
    Anna Popplewell in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
    Teen Adventure
    Bruce Willis and Taniel in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    Still frame
    Adventure
    Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, André Holland, Herman Caheej McGloun, Edson Jean, Alex R. Hibbert, and Tanisha Cidel in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
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    Romance
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    Sci-Fi
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    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      As the Seekers wear completely white clothing throughout this movie, including in the desert sequences, it was a tedious process for the costume designers and make-up artists to constantly clean the clothes whenever they became dirty, which was often.
    • Goofs
      (at around 28 mins) When crossing the desert on foot, Melanie tells Wanda to walk only on rocks so as to leave no tracks. The cave-dwellers, however, drive 7.5tonne Mercedes trucks in and out.
    • Quotes

      Wanderer/Wanda: Why is he looking at you?

      Melanie Stryder: Why are you looking at him?

    • Connections
      Featured in The Nostalgia Chick: The Host (2013)
    • Soundtracks
      Radioactive
      Performed by Imagine Dragons

      Written by Alex da Kid (uncredited), Ben McKee (uncredited), Joshua Mosser (uncredited), Dan Reynolds (uncredited), Wayne Sermon (uncredited)

      Courtesy of Kid Ina Korner / Interscope Records

      Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd.

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    FAQ20

    • How long is The Host?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 29, 2013 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Switzerland
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • La huésped
    • Filming locations
      • Shiprock, New Mexico, USA
    • Production companies
      • Nick Wechsler Productions
      • Chockstone Pictures
      • Fickle Fish Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $40,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $26,627,201
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $10,600,112
      • Mar 31, 2013
    • Gross worldwide
      • $63,365,859
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 5m(125 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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