2/5 stars

After the critical slaughtering received by sci-fi romance ‘The Host’, the movie itself proved, in some ways, a pleasant surprise. That’s not to say ‘The Host’ is a great film – it is based on a book by ‘Twilight’ author Stephenie Meyer after all, and Meyer’s unique talent for taking interesting, fantastical premises and using them to satisfy shallow whims is on full display. In this case, that premise is essentially ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’. A race of parasitic aliens known as Souls have invaded the Earth and possessed the bodies of human beings.They have eradicated war, poverty, pollution and disease, but are also void of personality and passion. Human ‘Host’ Melanie Stryder resists her occupation, filling the thoughts of her Soul, Wanderer, with memories of little brother Jamie and boyfriend Jared until the alien loves Melanie’s nearest and dearest as much as the girl herself. An uneasy alliance forms, and the pair set out across the desert in their shared body to find the ones they love.

This potentially profound plight is at times rendered unintentionally comical by writer/director Andrew Niccol’s decision to use a clumsily scripted voice over to spell out the internal conflict between Soul and Host. This is a shame, since lead actress Saoirse Ronan is more than talented enough to illustrate such a struggle purely with the mercurial shifts of expression and tone. Better explored is the character of the Seeker (Diane Kruger) whose obsession with hunting down the rogue Wanderer is suspiciously human. However, the central idea is never fully exploited, with what might be an intriguing metaphor for ego versus id, or the composite nature of identity, relegated to the stuff of complicated teenage crushes. Melanie/Wanderer eventually makes it to a human colony primarily populated by strapping young men of indistinguishable personality, among them Jared and his friend Ian, both of whom spend most of their time snogging the heroine to discover which of her personalities is in control. The fact that this is apparently the only way to ascertain such a thing reeks of Meyer’s trademark anti-feminism.

That said, the film is rescued by some unexpectedly touching moments, the best of which explore the impossibility of the sisterly love that blossoms between Wanderer and her host, and for this reason we must be thankful that, if we have to tolerate another Stephenie Meyer adaptation, at least it’s one in which the central relationship can be portrayed single-handedly by Saoirse Ronan.

Rachel Groocock