Growing up I was always fascinated by tattoos, watching shows like Miami Ink and always trying to catch glances at magazines that presented an array of amazing artwork. I always knew I wanted them when I was older, and with my passion for movies proving unstoppable throughout my teenage years and never slowing, as soon as I turned 18 I began dedicating my body art to the films that meant the most to me. One of those films has been added to streaming on Hulu this month, and needless to say, I had to seize the opportunity to can’t recommend The Host.
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The Host is a 2006 monster movie
Released in 2006, The Host is a South Korean monster movie in which a dysfunctional family is forced to band together when a giant monster emerges from the Han River and abducts one of its members.
Declaring the creature as the host of a new virus, the military arrives and quarantines those who have been in contact with it, evacuating others. The family is targeted but manages to escape, spending the events of the film evading capture while doing everything in their power to hunt down the monster and restore their family.
It became the highest-grossing South Korean film in history upon its release, and it’s not difficult to see why. The first time I saw it as a teenager, it reminded me more than anything of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, bringing the same family drama, humor, and terror that I found had even more poignancy than that classic.
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It blends genres more beautifully than almost any other film I’ve seen. As far as cinema goes, it was love at first sight for me, and when I saw it was now streaming on Hulu I felt it was my duty to make sure I encourage as many audiences to see it as possible.
No matter how many times I enjoy it, it scares me, thrills me, makes me cry, makes me laugh—it’s the rare movie that makes you feel it all. The entire family is made up of broken characters you’ll find impossible not to grow attached to. With the conversation surrounding the greatest monster movies swirling in the wake of Godzilla Minus One’s Oscars success, there’s only one film I could ever truly choose.
The Host is directed by Bong Joon-ho
I had no idea who South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho was until I saw The Host, but I knew for a fact it was a name I’d never be forgetting after.
Since then I’ve watched all of his movies. I’ve never been so happy with an Oscars win than when his seventh movie, 2019’s Parasite, won Best Picture, becoming the first non-English language film to do so.
The man has never made a bad movie. Scratch that, he’s never made a movie less than great:
- Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
- Memories Of Murder (2003)
- The Host (2006)
- Mother (2009)
- Snowpiercer (2013)
- Okja (2017)
- Parasite (2019)
I wholeheartedly recommend every one of them. Excitingly, his upcoming film is Mickey 17, a sci-fi starring Robert Pattinson, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, and more. Anything that Bong’s involved with, you don’t even need to sell me further. I’ll already be sold.
The Host is now streaming on Hulu.
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