As hard as it is to grasp where the story intends to go, it’s just as easy to realize that it had no other choice but to fall into standard crime thriller tropes.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
Director Newbery proves ill-equipped to handle the convoluted narrative shifts of the screenplay co-written by Finola Geraghty, Brendan Bishop and Laurence Lamers. But to be fair, even Hitchcock would have thrown up his hands at the illogical plotting and over-the-top contrivances that make "North by Northwest" look like a documentary by comparison.
RogerEbert.com by Monica Castillo
For a tale of mystery and intrigue, The Host provided neither.
Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray
Director Andy Newbery — working from a script credited to four writers — makes the story look classy but can’t find its beating heart.
The first half of the story is far more intriguing than the second, and “The Host” goes almost wholly wrong from that magic moment AFTER we wonder, “Just what the Hell is going on here?”