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With strong audience and critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes alongside four wins at the 2020 Academy Awards, it's fair to say that Bong Joon Ho's 2019 dark-comedy-psychological-drama "Parasite" is beloved by audiences. With biting social commentary and edge-of-your-seat suspense, critics picked it as one of the best movies in the past 25 years back in 2023. However, before Bong was thrilling movie goers with "Parasite," he already had a monster movie hit under his belt that cemented its legacy in the genre.
Released in 2007, "The Host" only earned $320,000 during its opening weekend in North America, though it would eventually go on to gross over $89 million worldwide. Even 13 years before "Parasite," Bong's film about a family being terrorized by a monster has many of the elements audiences came to expect from the director, including the social commentary and dark humor. Fortunately, we can tell you where it's streaming.
While there are some thematic ties between "The Host" and monster classics like "Godzilla," Bong's film actually takes inspiration from a real event where an American military pathologist ordered an assistant to dump 480 bottles of formaldehyde down the drain in a U.S. military base stationed in South Korea. The film is backed by strong audience and critic scores, with David Ehrlich of IndieWire calling it "The defining monster movie of the 21st century."
Before Parasite, there was The Host
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South Korean director Bong Joon Ho is no stranger to entertaining international audiences. Along with his hit "Parasite," his 2014 film "Snowpiercer" also earned an impressive $5.5 million dollars after only four weeks on Video on Demand (VOD) services — and eventually grew into an underrated TV series. However, his 2007 film "The Host" was no slouch, either, as it holds a 93% Tomatometer score and 72% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes.
"The Host" centers around 60-year-old Park Hee-Bong (Byun Hee-Bong), a man who runs a small business along the Han River with his three children and granddaughter. Unfortunately for them, the Han River is also the dumping ground for gallons of toxic chemicals from a government base. Over time, the polluted river produces a monstrous amphibious creature that attacks those nearby — Park's family included. When Park's granddaughter is kidnapped by the monster, the family presumes she's dead. However, things change drastically when they discover this may not be the case.
In addition to Byun, the film also stars Song Kang-ho, Park Hae-il, and Bae Doona. "The Host" took home 30 award wins and 37 nominations alongside a nomination for Best International Film at the 2007 Saturn Awards. In a 2018 review for Cinema Escapist, critic Anthony Kao states, "With multiple artfully constructed layers of social commentary, 'The Host' offers an incisive look into South Korea's soul." The film is available on The Roku Channel alongside these new must-watch British channels, Amazon Prime, and Kanopy.