It stars Song Kang-ho as food stand vendor Park Gang-du whose daughter Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung) is kidnapped by a creature dwelling around the Han River in Seoul.

The catalyst for The Host was the McFarland incident that occurred in February 2000, when an American civilian working on a military base in South Korea ordered the disposal of formaldehyde down a drain leading to the Han River.

Gang-du's other family members include his daughter, Hyun-seo; his sister Nam-joo, a famed archer; and his brother, Nam-il, an unemployed college graduate.

Scott Wilson, David Joseph Anselmo, Paul Lazar [de], and Clinton Morgan play Americans stationed in South Korea (Douglas, the pathologist; Sergeant Donald White; a doctor who speaks with Gang-du; and an AY Agent, respectively).

[15][16][17] During his youth, he was a fan of the kaiju genre, frequently viewing entries in the Godzilla and Ultraman franchises on the American Forces Korea Network (AFKN).

[16] In a 2006 interview, he added that he was "unhappy about the lack of a monster movie tradition in [South Korea]",[c] and said that The Host pays homage to the kaiju genre in general.

[16] Having also developed a fascination with mythical creatures, he imagined a Nessie-like monster rising from the Han River and disrupting Seoul residents' daily routines.

[19] In February 2000, around the same time as his directorial debut, Barking Dogs Never Bite, was released, Bong felt further encouraged to make his own monster movie in response to the widely reported McFarland incident.

[15][21] The scandal involved an American civilian named Albert McFarland ordering his employees at a military base mortuary to dump around 470 bottles containing formaldehyde into a drain that fed into the Han River.

[26] Furthermore, Guillermo del Toro's Mimic (1997) and M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (2002) were significant influences on the film,[16][18] and Bong indicated that Jaws (1975),[18] Alien (1979), and The Thing (1982) may have also inspired him while making it.

[18] In 2003, Bong directed the short film Sink and Rise, which featured Byun playing a food stand vendor near the Han River; it is now considered to be a prequel to The Host.

[27] Development of the creature began in December 2003; more than 2,000 drawings were reportedly submitted until the final design was decided upon;[38] Jang Hee-Cheol made the initial sketches.

In the opening scenes, two fishermen presumably encounter the creature whilst it is still small enough to fit in one of their cups; suggestive of its humble, more realistic origins.

[42] Morgan and Anselmo experienced visa issues, breaching Article 20 of South Korea's Immigration Control Act by working on a project in the country without government authorization and were deported under coercion.

[53] South Korean analyst Kim Bong-seok noted: "The recent Godzilla film was a box office failure, and the tastes of young audiences are changing.

Subverting its own genre while still delivering shocks and marbled with straight-faced character humor that constantly throws the viewer off balance, [this] much-hyped big-budgeter [...] is a bold gamble that looks headed to instant cult status.

The website's consensus reads: "As populace pleasing as it is intellectually satisfying, The Host combines scares, laughs, and satire into a riveting, monster movie.

[57] Some reviewers were, however, more critical; Kim Soyoung dismissed the latter half of the film as "nihilistic" while Lee Hyun-kyung felt the "allegory was one-dimensional and the banter was often over the top".

[6] Martin said the experience of watching the film was akin to seeing Jaws upon its initial 1975 release, but described Bong as a "much more interesting and intricate director than Spielberg will ever be".

[74] Sven-Eric Wehmeyer found the film presents an unrealistic monster within a realistic setting in the same vein as Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006).

[78] The scene when it first comes ashore was "awe-inspiring, exotic, [and] even a touch humorous" for Peter Bradshaw, but he felt it wasn't as daunting in comparison to Ridley Scott's Alien (1979).

[89] A representative of Chungeorahm Film said: "I am confident that if Japanese viewers directly watch the anime that has been suggested as the source material, they will never instantly conclude that it is similar to The Host.

[86] Shortly after the film's release, producer Choi Yong-bae hired his friend Kang Full to write The Host 2 (Korean: 괴물2; RR: Goemul Dul; lit.

[90] Having initially mistaken the footage for a clip from the sequel, IndieWire later clarified that it was a promotional test reel; the site also mentioned that Yim Pil-sung was working on the screenplay.

[102][103] Screen International reported in November 2006 that Cineclick Asia had sold the remake rights to Universal Studios and turned down the offers from Plan B Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, and Michael De Luca.

[108] According to the company's CEO Kim Moon-ki they wanted to "stay faithful to director Bong's intentions and not let the effects distract the viewer" when creating it.

[112] According to ScreenAnarchy, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il lauded The Host for its reputed anti-Americanism and referred to the United States Forces Korea as the actual "monster of the Han River".

[114] American politicians Henry Hyde, Tom Lantos, and Gary Ackerman reportedly considered the film and its popularity a threat to the South Korea-United States alliance because of its anti-American sentiment.

[117] The administrations of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye later blacklisted Bong for making Memories of Murder and The Host, alleging he promoted anti-American, anti-government, and leftist views.

[7][52][150] The Guardian and The Quill compared scenes involving a supposed virus outbreak, which featured lockdowns, widespread mask usage, reports that symptoms resemble the flu, anxiety, and misinformation.