by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

The author of the ‘Twilight’ franchise, Stephanie Meyer has written the novel ‘The Host,’ adapted on screen by the film-maker from New-Zealand Andrew Niccol.

The sci-fi thiller romance reveals a future in which Earth has been occupied by a parasitic alien species that overtakes the human race by controlling their bodies and minds. When a young resistance fighter named Melanie is captured and invaded, the alien within her is overwhelmed by her human emotions, and they must find a way to co-exist.

The story focuses on a very delicate existential question concerning bodies and souls,  analysing Aristotle’s argument of the psyche as the first actuality of a naturally organised body: basically the inseparability of body and soul. In ‘The Host,’ there are two souls fighting for one body and the alien threat gradually is proven wrong: we are accustomed to seeing extra-terrestrial creatures – with the exception of E.T. – apocalyptic for our specie. But in this case, the pure soul of Wanderer/Wanda, shows how human kind can be just as barbaric as the invaders coming from another planet. For instance Niccol has reiterated that the story is about a greater love: “It’s about whether we can co-exist amongst ourselves, and even with a species from another world.”

The eighteen year old actress Saoirse Ronan is majestic in switching from Melanie to Wanda, in the same scene, without giving the impression of being a lunatic. Her performance is very raw and poised at the same time, she is also quite lucky in having two handsome acting partners, she enjoys kissing in alternation, Max Irons as Jared Howe – Melanie’s boyfriend – and Jake Abel as Ian O’Shea – Wanda’s sweetheart. Diane Kruger also plays a dual character, as a Seeker hunting down rebel humans tackling with the one resisting inside her ‘host’ body. She is always dressed in pristine white, as her fellow extraterrestrial colleagues, who apparently figured out a desert-proof way of doing laundry.

The movie’s ‘Twilight’ association and romantic plot will probably make ‘The Host’ a hit with teens; expect some steamy incidents, rampage and peril.

Related Images: