The Host by Bong Joon-Ho

[unspeakablehorror]

Last night I watched The Host by Bong Joon-Ho and I really enjoyed it (though also found it quite traumatic). Wasn't sure what I would think since I knew it was a monster film and I'm not typically that in to that genre, but I wanted to give it a chance since I've been impressed by all the other films of his I've seen and I was not disappointed.

One thing I find so fascinating about Bong Joon-Ho's protagonists is how they embody that incredible duality of unbelievable strength and extreme fragility that exists in reality, but I think is so often deemed as either too unrealistic or too depressing to depict. Anyone can die in his stories, but that doesn't mean they will, and his characters sometimes exhibit seemingly superhuman levels of strength or resourcefulness. That is especially true in this movie, which is full of adrenaline and action-packed scenes.

Also, had an observation about the ending (huge spoilers below the cut):

Spoilers for the ending...

In the protagonist family, both the grandfather and the daughter die. And when the Agent Yellow is being released, there's a warning about it being especially harmful to the elderly and children. Given that the monster itself is a result of fomaldehyde mutating a river animal, the choice of deaths seems in direct reference to how chemical contamination is especially harmful to these groups.

Anyway, this is yet another great movie that will give me so much to think about. Might write more on this film later, but it's probably going to take some time to properly organize my thoughts on it.