The Host, 2 stars
It’s been a while since a movie rubbed me the wrong way completely (Izo and Domino seem to be the latest entries in the slowly growing list). I expected to like The Host, the most popular piece of south korean filmcraft, but ended up just waiting for the credits to roll in.
It’s a shameless monster movie, with large chunks of physical comedy and family drama mixed in. Of which only the first part is anywhere near convincing. Despite the plot containing plenty of useful strands like personal tragedy, government conspiracies, a particularly nasty bout of lobotomy and lots of screentime for the creature, it never really gets going on all cylinders. The protagonist family hovers close to being nothing but caricatures. The roles of the government and protesters seem just silent screams against the status quo that reigned for a couple of decades in Soul.
I didn’t like the film, but plenty of audiences across the world have, so give this a movie a try if aquatic monsters are near your heart.
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