Movie Mondays: The Host

Random Movie Mondays is back. This week's movie is "The Host". It was directed by Andrew Niccol and released in 2013. It is based on the best seller by Stephanie Meyer. Sadly I did not get to read the book first which hurts me but I did enjoy the movie. 

Story Line: 'The Host' is a riveting story about the survival of love and the human spirit in a time of war. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact. Most of humanity has succumbed. When Melanie (Saoirse Ronan), one of the few remaining 'wild' humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading 'soul' who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the men they both love.

My Thoughts: In the beginning when she is first invaded by the alien life force, they are playing a beautiful background music as if it is okay to take over this girl’s life. It is interesting to watch her fighting within herself with the host then to just give in and let the alien win. I enjoyed the beginning with a series of flashbacks so you understand why Melanie does not want to give up and continues to fight as the host tries to learn where the human resistance is located. When the Wander and Melanie start to work together that is when the movie really began to get interesting. 

Melanie is finally reunited with her family and they only see the Host in her so they plan to kill her. Melanie’s Uncle Jeb takes the Wanderer under his wings and actually renames her Wanda. The other humans do not like her being with them but he sees something in her. They try to kill her a few times but luckily some humans step in. 

The great part of this movie is that you begin to see that the aliens are not completely evil. You truly grow to like Wanda and hope that she can find a way to survive and for Melanie to live. The movie was overall well done and I did not feel like I was lost in another Twilight type movie. It was interesting to realize that the true star of the movie is Wanda and not Melanie. I would recommend this movie. It was well done and had a great ending.