There were several good reasons that made me decide to see ‘The Host‘. It is inspired by a science-fiction novel by Stephenie Meyer which contains an interesting variation to the themes of alien invasion and end of the human species. It is written and directed by Andrew Niccol whose filmography as a director includes ‘Gattaca‘ and ‘S1m0ne‘ which he also co-wrote together with ‘The Truman Show‘ and ‘The Terminal‘. The cast features a handful of talented young actors with support from well-known actors such as William Hurt and Diane Kruger. Unfortunately, the disappointment is as deep as the expectations were high.
The aliens that invaded Earth in this version of the Apocalypse are quasi virtual entities named ‘Souls’ who are damned to search for hosts in their cosmic eternity. When the human race becomes their hosting tribe, peace, law and order seem to reign, the kind of peace, law and order complemented by technology improvements that I suspect is the dream of many authoritarian regimes with earthly origins. Just a handful of the human race escape the tragic and boring fate of becoming lighted eyes hosting entities for the alien souls, and they fight to resist and reconquer the planet. The story focuses on one girl (Saoirse Ronan) whose human soul refuses to die and lives, fights and loves in the same body with the one of the visiting alien. When she finds refuge in a remote desert hiding place where humans still exist, she will need to decide over her identity, prove it to and be accepted by humans in order to join the fight for freedom.
Describing a split personality is a challenge for a film director and for an actor, be these personalities belonging to the same species or not. It can also lead to great performances, it did many times in the history of film art, but it’s not the case here. Director Andrew Niccol chose a very uninspired solution by using two voices that quarrel for much of the time while the actress Saoirse Ronan is instructed to make grimaces that illustrate what we hear, and in a couple of cases perform some more physical acts like kissing followed by hitting her partner (that’s what split personality girls do, isn’t so?). The film is very verbose, inner voices, off-screen voices and characters voices all interleave, and the visual part pays too minor a role. The romantic conflict could be quite interesting but the stellar triangle of lovers (is it a rectangle?) needs to follow the rules of PG-13 cinema. Nor do the action scenes exceed the level of TV sci-fi from the previous century. Acting does not bring any inspiration either, with a William Hurt lacking any of his magnetic warmth, and Diane Kruger reduced to a uni-dimensional schematic role. Frankly speaking, I have a hard time remembering any detail in which ‘The Host‘ does not disappoint.