Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

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‘The Host’ stepping out of the shadow of the ‘Twilight’ saga

Lily Kane/Winonan

“The Host” is a movie that is based off the novel by Stephenie Meyer, writer of the Twilight Saga.

Unfortunately, that may give moviegoers a bad idea of what this movie is about.

In summary, it’s a story about aliens taking over humans and the humans fighting back.

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It has romance and action and is fairly generic in concept.

However, it might appear that way the true message of the story isn’t a popular topic amongst movies today.

The message that this movie portrays is that of open-mindedness and seeing the world through others’ eyes.

The alien species in this story are a sort of bug-like creature that is strangely beautiful, and enters a human through the neck to, in a way, take over the body.

The way that you can tell an alien is possessing a human is the eyes – they get a glowing circle around the pupil.

The story starts off after the aliens—they call themselves “souls”—have basically taken over the world at one point previous to the events in the movie, stating that the aliens outnumber the resisting humans 1 million to 1.

The story follows a newly-entering soul who has traveled to the majority of the planets that the aliens have inhabited.

She is placed in the body of Melanie, who is one of the resisters who tried to kill herself to keep from having an alien placed in her.

The soul, named Wanderer, fights for control over the body and mind against Melanie, who is refusing to be erased from her body.
The movie does an excellent job of making it clear who is speaking despite there being only one actress on screen.

There is a difference in tone and speaking style that allows the watcher to differentiate between Melanie and Wanderer and create different personalities.
Saoirse Ronan plays Melanie/Wanderer, and she does a great job of displaying emotions without looking like she is just staring off into the distance, listening to Melanie.

The antagonist in the story is Diane Kruger, who plays the Seeker.  The seeker’s job is to help Wanderer get Melanie’s memories so that they can find the rebelling humans.

Originally, Wanderer is on board doing what she calls her “duty to her people,” but after a while she forms a connection with Melanie and the people in Melanie’s memories.

And that’s when the fun begins.

This movie will make you smile and it will make you cry.

It gives a much deeper message of understanding and love than most audiences would expect all while being entertaining and fascinating.

It is a truly excellent movie that most audiences will enjoy.

“The Host” is projected for release on DVD this July.

Contact Lily at [email protected]

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