New Restoration

“The Host dazzles … Plangent and accessible, pitched down the middle instead of over our heads, and best of all, terrifically, consistently entertaining in a way that Hollywood (or anywhere else) hasn’t managed in a while.”

Adam Nayman, Reverse Shot

With The Host, Bong Joon Ho breathed new life into the otherwise dormant creature feature while demonstrating that his socially trenchant sensibilities could thrive in the realm of popcorn entertainment. Inspired by Bong’s love of kaiju movies but instigated by the 2000 McFarland incident, in which 48 gallons of formaldehyde were intentionally dumped into the Han River, the film stars Bong regular Song Kangho as a layabout snack vendor whose teenage daughter is abducted by a monster wreaking havoc in Seoul. Under government quarantine for contact with the supposedly virus-hosting creature, he and his remaining family—a father, brother, and Olympic-archer sister (Bae Doona)—devise an escape in order to hunt down this man-made leviathan before it’s too late. The film was a sensation, both by critical measure and box-office receipts. Though Bong has gone high-concept a few times since, he has yet to match the symmetry of adventure, awe, and eco-allegory perfected here.

In Korean and English with English subtitles

“A monster movie for our terrorism and biological warfare-shrouded era, Bong Joon Ho’s The Host delivers high-octane thrills while cannily exploiting contemporary political fears, with some inspired visual humour amplifying its overriding mood of popcorn-movie excitement.”

Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

“A loopy, feverishly imaginative genre hybrid … Bong would as soon have us shriek with laughter as with fright. But it’s precisely that looseness, that willingness to depart from the narrative straight and narrow, that makes the film feel closer to a new chapter than a retread.”

Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
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