The Host is a 2013 American romantic science fiction thriller film written for the screen and directed by Andrew Niccol based on the 2008 novel by Stephenie Meyer.
[3] The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Jake Abel, Max Irons, Frances Fisher, Chandler Canterbury, Diane Kruger, and William Hurt.
It tells the story of a young woman, Melanie, who is captured after the human race has been taken over by parasitic aliens called "Souls".
With Melanie’s guidance, Wanderer escapes to the desert, where Jeb finds her and takes her to a series of caves inside a mountain where the humans (including Jared and Jamie) are hiding.
They intercept one of the shelter's supply teams, and in the ensuing chase, Aaron and Brandt commit suicide to avoid capture.
Wanderer takes Seeker’s tiny alien form to a Soul space-travel site, where she sends it so far from Earth that it can not return for numerous generations.
On June 27, the release date was set for the film for March 29, 2013, and it was also announced that principal photography would begin in February 2012, in Louisiana and New Mexico.
The website's consensus reads: "Poorly scripted and dramatically ineffective, The Host is mostly stale and tedious, with moments of unintentional hilarity.
[18] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter felt that "it's cloaked in yawningly familiar teen-romance terms and cries out for even a little seasoning of wit, irreverence, political smarts and genre twists that, given the well-trod terrain, seem like requisites when presenting visions of the near future.
"[19] Noah Berlatsky of The Atlantic wrote: "The acting, as well as Andrew Niccol's writing and direction, are all awful; I can't in good conscience recommend that anyone see this film.
"[20] Roth Cornet of IGN gave it a "mediocre" score of 5/10, stating that the film is "unintentionally laughable" and "frustratingly absurd".
Cornet said that it could have made an interesting story but that the contradictions of the peaceful but parasitic Souls were not fully explained, in the case of the character Seeker only given a shallow unsatisfying explanation.