Gwoemul (The Host) (2006)
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93% of critics liked it
(148 reviews) -
69% of users liked it
(173,723 ratings)
When a young girl is snatched away from her father by a horrifying giant monster that emerges from the River Han to wreak havoc on Seoul, her entire family sets out to locate the beast and bring their little girl back home to safety in South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's big-budget creature… More When a young girl is snatched away from her father by a horrifying giant monster that emerges from the River Han to wreak havoc on Seoul, her entire family sets out to locate the beast and bring their little girl back home to safety in South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's big-budget creature feature. Hee-bong is a man of modest means who runs a snack bar on the banks of the River Han. Along with his slow-witted eldest son, Gang-du; Gang-du's young daughter, Hyun-seo; archery champion daughter Nam-joo; and unemployed, shirker son, Nam-il, Hee-Bong has managed to maintain a close relationship with his family despite the hardships that come with being a single father. When a rampaging fiend erupts from the Han and throws the city of Seoul into a state of emergency, Gang-du is heartbroken to see his precious little girl scooped up by the scaly creature and spirited away to an unknown destination. This is one family that always sticks together, though, and as the rest of the city denizens scramble to take cover, Hee-bong, Gang-du, Nam-joo, and Nam-il set out to prove that they're not letting their little girl go without a fight. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Joon-ho Bong, Bong Joon-Ho
- Written By
- Hah Joon-won, Baek Chul-hyun, Bong Joon-Ho
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Horror, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Mar 9, 2007 Wide
- On DVD
- Jul 24, 2007
- Studio
- Magnolia Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
As ebullient and bizarre as a monster that can do back flips, leaving the viewer in a shock of delight.
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Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times
A horror thriller, a political satire, a dysfunctional family comedy, and a touching melodrama, Bong Joon-ho's The Host is also one helluva monster movie.
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Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Bravely shifting tones from the horrific to the slapstick and back again, Bong Joon-ho has made a movie that's comprised almost equally of family sitcom, political indictment, high-urban paranoia and maximum-geek, monster-movie delight.
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Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Rarely plays out the way you expect. Director Bong is careful to deliver the promised scares, but he is also willing to overlook plot formulas to explore his own interests.
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Tom Long, Detroit News
Maybe this is actually a treatise on the dissonance between East and West, science and nature, promise and tragedy. Nah. It's just a dumb, crappy horror movie that wants to be celebrated as such.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Song Kang-ho
as Gang-du
- Byun Hee-bong
- Park Hae-il
- Du-na Bae
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Ko A-sung
as Hyun-seo
- Lee Dong-ho
- Jae-eung Lee
- Yun Je-mun
- Kim Roi-Ha
- Park Noh-shik
- Pil-Sung Yim
- Scott Wilson






