Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Song Kang-hoPark Gang-du
- Byun Hee-bongPark Hie-bong
- Park Hae-ilPark Nam-il
- Bae DoonaPark Nam-joo
- Go A-sungPark Hyun-seo
- Oh Dal-suThe Monster (voice)
- Lee Jae-eungSe-jin
- Lee Dong-hoSe-joo
- Yoon Je-moonHomeless Man
- Yim Pil-sungFat Guevara
Recommendations
- 91
Entertainment Weekly
Bong Joon-ho's wildly entertaining saga should become the hip, thinking-person's monster movie of choice. - 91
Christian Science Monitor
A cross between "Godzilla" and "Jaws," it manages to be both truly scary and truly funny – sometimes all at once. - 88
Premiere
When the movie isn't being scary, it's crazily funny, so much so that critical watchers will wonder if Bong might tilt the balance of the picture too far in a comic direction and water down the scares. He doesn't. - 88
Chicago Tribune
The tone of The Host is slippery in the best way; you're never sure if you're in for a joke or a shock, yet nothing feels random. - 80
Variety
On almost every level, there's never quite been a monster movie like The Host. Egregiously subverting its own genre while still delivering shocks at a pure genre level, and marbled with straight-faced character humor that constantly throws the viewer off balance. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
The Host packs a lot into its two tumultuous hours: lyrically disgusting special effects, hair-raising chases, outlandish political satire, and best of all, a dysfunctional-family psychodrama--an odyssey that's like a grisly reworking of "Little Miss Sunshine." - 80
L.A. Weekly
The Host is a miracle of breathless play with form and tone that also seethes with attitude and ideas, from pure movie love to pointed sociopolitical commentary to a bleak existentialism about the inherent cruelty of our world. - 80
Salon
A thrilling ride and a sometimes dry, sometimes sweet comedy, but beneath all that is a humane and tragic view of life worthy of the greatest films. Even those without rubber monsters.
