Year: 2020
Rated R
Rating: * * * Stars
Cast: Mike Buckingham, Maryam Hassouni, Dougie Poynter
"We can choose any road, even on the wrong path". I "chose" to see 2020's The Host. No not the horror thriller from years ago that was directed by Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho. This is The Host from this year. And there are no real monsters this time, just human ones.
Anyway, The Host is a little noir, a little dramatic thriller, and a little torture porn all rolled into one. The unknown actors in it (at least they were unknown to me) gave it their all. They are dropped in to "Host's" slickness and unsafe fortitude.
As far as releases go circa this new decade, "Host" intrigued me throughout. You think it's one type of movie until it eventually turns into something resembling Eli Roth's Hostel or Saw. At a running time of 102 minutes, "Host's" twists and turns run rabid until the flick's plot gives the viewer almost no wiggle room to work with. Oh well. I needed some escapism and yup, The Host gave it to me.
Now would I say that The Host is a ludicrous mashup of different motion picture genres? Yes I would. Would I recommend it to my worldwide viewership? Sure why not.
Shot in London (with an authentic cast of mostly East Asian descent) and directed by a TV guy named Andy Newbery, "Host" chronicles banker and compulsive gambler, Robert Atkinson (played by Mike Beckingham). In order to settle a mob-related debt, Atkinson must fly over to Amsterdam to deliver an illegal briefcase full of heroin drug money. That's all I'm going to say because The Host eventually goes rogue and well, the main protagonist doesn't quite make it (that's rare and ballsy in today's cinema).
Bottom line: The Host is dark and dangerous. It's the sort of film where you get dizzy on its labyrinth of toxicity (look for various, metaphoric shots in "Host" where a creepy spiral staircase is involved). Rating: 3 stars.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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