Click here to copy URL

The Host

Gwoemul (The Host)

2006

Bong Joon-ho

Song Kang-ho, Byeon Hie-bong, Park Hae-Il, Bae Doona ...

6.0

33,016

Fantasy. Horror. Sci-Fi. Thriller Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong) is the owner of a small food stand in the Han River Citizen's Park, selling squid, candy and beer to people who have come out to enjoy the sun. Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) is one of his three children, a man who seems a bit slow mentally and whose one motivating strength is a devotion to his schoolage daughter Hyun-seo (Ko Ah-sung). Rounding out the family is Nam-joo (Bae Doona), an amateur competitive archer and her ... [+]

	Author	Review
Spain	FilmAffinity	It became the #1 Top grossing film at the domestic South Korean box office.	POS
United States	Derek Elley Variety	"On almost every level, there's never quite been a monster movie like 'The Host.' (...) A bold gamble that looks headed to instant cult status."	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"[It] is the defining monster movie of the 21st century (...) Bong Joon-ho's monster-sized masterpiece feels more relevant than ever because of its emphasis on the sheer brazenness of evil."	POS
United States	Jim Emerson rogerebert.com	"Like its magnificent beast, 'The Host' is wild, crazy, messy, preposterous -- and all the better for it (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"A cautionary environmental tale about the domination of nature and the costs of human folly, and it may send chills up your spine."	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"I found something oddly unscary about the creature itself. And the film, though intriguing, doesn't quite have the raw, crazy showmanship of an old-fashioned monster movie (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	J.R. Jones Chicago Reader	"The mix of dark humor, creeping suspense, and a sort of apocalyptic tenderness makes this the best horror flick in years."	POS
United Kingdom	Simon Crook Empire	"You'll laugh, you'll gasp, you'll jump, you'll ask Hollywood for your money back. Seek it out (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Nick Schager Slant	"Bong’s camera glides effortlessly through intensely choreographed set pieces (...) Thanks to sterling performances by both Song and Hee-bong, the hectic film maintains a consistently affecting human dimension (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.