So far, chemical waste hasn’t mutated amphibious creatures enough to create giant monsters large enough to swallow people whole… yet. This sort of monster film premise is familiar, especially for fans of 1950s sci-fi movies, but in the hands of director Bong Joon-ho, The Host transforms what could have been B-movie schlock into a drama examining the ways generations within a family, as well as generations within a country and within the world, have failed each other. As the Park family try to save their own, the actions they take feel all the more important, knowing what’s at stake on multiple levels. While at the time, there were doubts that Bong Joon-ho and the Korean film industry could pull off the monster, The Host proved that there was more to come from the then emerging film giant.
"A perfect mixture of the silly and the grave."
— Anthony Lane
"This is a portrait of a country's deepest anxieties, which just happen to be distilled into a mandibled squidlike reptile. It has the tang of social realism."
— David Edelstein
A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
After the American army improperly dumps chemical waste, the Park family are left distraught when one of their daughters Hyun-seo gets snatched by a horrifying giant monster that emerges from the Han River. Because of this, the remaining family members set out to hunt down the beast.
The monster, of course. Being a fictional creature, it had to be created from CGI, but it looks just the right amount of gross and disgusting without sacrificing cinematic dynamic movement, character design, and looking realistic. It looks so much better than some of the rushed CGI jobs today.
Dispose. *clap* Your waste. *clap* PROPERLY.
Cannes
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