Film

The Host

Name: The Host
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Released: 2013
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Max Irons, Jake Abel, William Hurt

Other titles called The Host: the 2006 film.

Alien contact

A science-fiction romance where an alien consciousness inhabits a human body, only to find herself caught between two worlds. Saoirse Ronan anchors a dreamy, earnest story about identity and belonging in occupied Earth. It's gentle where you might expect action, intimate where you'd anticipate spectacle. For people who love character-driven sci-fi and aren't afraid of genuine emotion.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like your science fiction sincere and a little sentimental, and enjoy watching a committed lead play two minds fighting over one body with a romantic pull running underneath.

Skip it if you want fast, action-packed sci-fi, because this is talky, earnest and comfortable with its own sentiment, and at over two hours the love-triangle chatter can drag.

What it asks of you: Over two hours at a measured pace, with long quiet conversations between characters and a sincere tone that never winks at itself.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Twilight2008

Another Stephenie Meyer adaptation with a similarly swoony, melancholic tone and a love triangle that actually matters emotionally. Kristen Stewart's quiet intensity mirrors Ronan's work here.

But The vampire mythology might feel dated, and if you're allergic to supernatural romance, this won't cure it.

The Giver2014

Dystopian sci-fi about memory, identity, and what we lose when society demands conformity. Features Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep, and shares The Host's focus on emotional truth over explosions.

But Adapting beloved YA always disappoints someone. This one feels deliberately muted, which some find profound and others find slow.

Ender's Game2013

A child genius thrust into alien war, forced to question loyalty and morality. Like The Host, it's cerebral sci-fi that trusts the audience to care about ideas, not just spectacle.

But It's cerebral to the point of chilliness, and the ending's moral weight might feel heavy rather than cathartic.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Host

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Under the Skin2014

Both films use alien possession as a framework to ask what makes us human. Under the Skin does it via cold alienation; The Host does it via intimate connection—same question, opposite emotional registers.

Scarlett Johansson as an alien in human form, seducing and harvesting humans. Hypnotic, slow, entirely committed to seeing Earth through nonhuman eyes. Shares The Host's meditation on what it means to inhabit a body.

But It's experimental cinema—glacial, unsettling, deliberately oblique. If you want plot and dialogue, this will feel like watching paint dry.

The 5th Wave2016

Another YA sci-fi with an alien invasion premise and a girl learning to survive in a hostile world. Similar aesthetic: moody, character-focused, with romance that develops naturally from proximity and understanding.

But It cribs The Host's blueprint without quite earning the emotional payoff. Feels like a slightly cheaper version of what you're watching.

Arrival2016

First contact sci-fi that privileges language, memory, and love over warfare. Amy Adams does quiet brilliance here, and the film trusts you to feel the stakes without constant tension.

But Some find it preachy about motherhood and sacrifice. The pacing is deliberately glacial—not everyone's patient with that.

The 1002014

Post-apocalyptic survival drama where Earth is being reclaimed and moral lines blur constantly. It has the same YA sincerity as The Host but escalates in ways that demand you choose sides.

But It gets darker and messier than The Host, with character deaths that sting. Seven seasons is a commitment, and quality wavers.

Severance2022

Sci-fi thriller about identity, control, and resistance. Adam Scott is trapped in a system that divides his consciousness, echoing The Host's core question: who are you when your mind isn't your own?

But It's deliberately opaque and unsettling in ways The Host isn't. If you want answers, this will frustrate you.

A Wrinkle in Time2018

Ava DuVernay's adaptation of the classic about a girl crossing dimensions to rescue her father. Visually lush, earnestly hopeful, with the same belief that love conquers darkness that animates The Host.

But Adaptation of beloved source material always disappoints someone. The CGI occasionally overwhelms the intimate moments.

Annihilation2018

Both feature women whose bodies become contested territory between human and alien consciousness. But where The Host finds harmony, Annihilation finds dissolution. It's the dark mirror: what if the merger destroys rather than completes you?

A woman enters a shimmering alien zone where matter is rewritten and identity becomes fluid. It's sci-fi about transformation and the self, gorgeously unsettling, with Natalie Portman carrying the weight of ambiguity.

But It's cosmic horror wrapped in pretty cinematography. Not reassuring, and the ending offers no comfort—this is as far from The Host's romantic hopefulness as possible.