The Host
The difficult journey of a nice ET
Whenever we think of aliens coming to Earth, an apocalyptic vision of monstrous beings emerges in our minds, destroying and enslaving human beings. But what if instead they came to save us from the destruction promoted by ourselves? This is the motto of the film “The Host” (USA, 2013), inspired by the book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series.
In the opening minutes of the movie, the viewer is informed that the Earth has changed. There is no more hunger, no more wars, no more injustices. Everyone lives in harmony and nature has been preserved. The problem is that the Earth no longer belongs to humans.
The planet has been invaded by a strange race of aliens, who have the ability to adapt to the body of an intelligent being, totally dominating its mind, its body and even its memories. Most of the earth’s population has already been dominated, with a few resistant humans remaining, who hide from Seekers.
Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan), one of these fugitives, when she was cornered by the Seekers, preferred to throw herself out of a building, choosing death to avoid being dominated and reveal the whereabouts of her brother and boyfriend.
But she is saved by her pursuers, who take her to a healing center where her wounds are treated and her body receives a Soul, which is how aliens call themselves. Melanie receives the soul of Wanderer, a being who had already lived the equivalent of a thousand earth years, on several different planets.
But what seemed to be a simple adaptation becomes increasingly complicated. Melanie’s consciousness resists domination, and Wanderer, even controlling the body, cannot silence the girl’s inner voice.
Increasingly pressured by her fellow Seeker (Diane Kruger), Wanderer is frightened to discover that she will be removed from that body and that it will be destroyed. Unable to agree to someone’s death, she flees into the desert in search of Melanie’s brother.
After days of walking through the desert, she is found almost dead by Jeb Stryder (William Hurt), Melanie’s uncle. Although he knows that the girl’s body had been dominated by an alien, he still does not allow killing her. Reluctantly, the rest of the group takes Wanderer to their hideout, inside an ancient volcano.
Wanderer’s arrival causes great disturbances in the group, as Jared (Max Irons) and Jamie (Chandler Canterbury), Melanie’s boyfriend and brother, struggle to cope with someone who was so loved, but who was now controlled by another mind.
The situation complicates when Ian (Jake Abel), who at first had tried to kill Wanderer, changes his attitude when he is saved by her from certain death and falls in love with this strange creature, who walks, talks and touches the body of his friend’s girlfriend…
Some fun situations happen because of this duality, which reminds a little of Edward and Jacob’s rivalry of “Twilight”, but now with a well-defined division in the heart of the young lady (or the young ladies, because they are two who share the same body).
The author of the book participated in the film as a producer, and had an active voice in the choice of director Andrew Niccol, who had previously directed two great science fiction movies, “Gattaca” (USA, 1997) and “In Time” (USA, 2011).
Saoirse Ronan, who stars this film, was nominated for an Academy Award for Supporting Actress at the age of 12 for her role in “Atonement” (USA/UK, 2007), and did not have to work hard to live Melanie/Wanderer. Who steals the scene every time he appears is the veteran William Hurt, showing that who is king never loses his majesty.
One fact that interests Brazilians is that the music of this movie was in charge of Antonio Pinto, son of the cartoonist Ziraldo, and who made the soundtracks of “Central |Station” (“Central do Brasil”, BRA, 1998) and “City of God” (“Cidade de Deus”, BRA, 2002).
Stephenie Meyer’s story presents some interesting points, such as this utopian civilization, where there is no more competition, hatred or ambition. But, inthere are also the emotions and feelings typically humans, which intrigues Wanderer.
The film makes its bet of what would be the ideal world, which would neither be the pasteurized Utopia of Souls nor the House of Mother Joana in which we live. We could even associate the proposed philosophy with the message of “Astral City – A Spiritual Journey” (“Nosso Lar”, BRA, 2010) – in fact, the totally “clean” set reminds of the idyllic city described by Chico Xavier.
Although the romantic tones of the film instill most critics, who can’t get away from the comparison to “Twilight”, “The Host” brings something new in science fiction genre, in an approach that escapes the sameness of usual aliens and predators.
This movie can be watched on Amazon Prime Video streaming service.