Soul-jacked

It is, equally, a captivating portrait of the fundamental nature of love, probing the perfect illusion of idealistic love versus the allusion of eternal love that has sustained all great love stories from Romeo and Juliet to Brokeback Mountain.

Undying love

It's about undying love and although The Host is contextually placed in the genres of sci-fi and romance, it is ultimately a coming-of-age story, but also an introspective journey into our humanity.

Unfortunately, The Host is tainted with preconceptions of Meyer's Twilight saga and not regarded on its own merits. This is Meyer's coming-of-age story as a writer, breaking out of her Twilight cocoon and taking a bold step forward addressing serious questions and complex issues relating to the fate of humanity and mythological cosmology.

It is difficult for most people to understand who they really are and when they meet their soulmates; the contradiction between fantasy and reality collide head on. In The Host, Earth has been colonised by the Souls, an alien race that displaces humans from their own bodies and turns them into hosts for interplanetary travellers. The Souls have transformed the planet into a clean, safe, peaceful world-but at an unthinkable cost: most of the human race has been eradicated.

When Melanie's soul is hijacked by the aliens, her human self and alien invader are trapped in the same body and fight for survival, for the men they each love, and for the destiny of the planet. This dual existence between the reality that governs our existence and the voice inside us that determines our destiny is brought to life with inspired imagination and vibrant visualisation by Niccol, whose understanding of his material as storyteller and his skilful artistry as story maker turns Meyer's story into an exceptional adventure that is definitely not limited to the Twilight fans.

Superb in her dual role

Irish-actress Saoirse Ronan, who was 13 years old when she earned an Oscar nomination for her critically acclaimed starring performance in Joe Wright's Atonement, is superb in her dual role, perfectly capturing the innocence of a young girl in love, as well as the conflicted nature of a girl imprisoned inside her own body.

German actress Diane Kruger, who impressed the world with her breakthrough performance in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, is stunning as the Seeker, a Soul who tracks humans and inserts other Souls into their bodies.

As the two charming princes in Melanie's life, Max Irons (last seen in Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood) infuses the romance with passionate emotion, and is well supported by Jake Abel's vigour. Niccol allows the romance to sizzle spectacularly, aptly matching the physical chemistry between the lovers with emotional intimate moments.

The Host is visually arresting, thanks to the sumptuous cinematography by Roberto Schaefer, who earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography for the 2004 film Finding Neverland and production design by Andy Nicholson, a multi-award winning production designer and supervising art director (Sleepy Hollow).

Don't expect an alien-flavoured Twilight film, but welcome an intelligent, insightful and entertaining journey into the humanness that sometimes prevents us from being true to ourselves.

Behind the scenes

Stephenie Meyer was driving through the seemingly endless desert that stretches from Phoenix to Salt Lake City when she came up with the idea for her best-selling novel, The Host. Meyer, whose record-breaking Twilight series was just becoming a worldwide phenomenon, passed the long hours by telling herself stories. "I came on the idea of two personalities in one body," she said. "They are both in love with different people, which creates a great deal of conflict. I like messy relationships. They're fun to work through."

The popular author also enjoys exploring the idea of love, but in this case, not just romantic love. "There's maternal love, which is such a big part of my life," said Meyer. "There's love of community and the people you belong with. I asked myself, what happens when you love someone and that makes you a traitor to your people? Love makes you do things you wouldn't do otherwise. It creates conflict and disorder."

Niccol agreed to direct the film, as well as to write the screenplay based on Meyer's novel. "Obviously I was aware of the popularity of Twilight," he said, "but I simply wanted to do justice to the book and its fans. Any pressure I felt was more creative than commercial. The idea of catching lightning in a bottle twice is a little much to expect. On the other hand, I wouldn't bet against Stephenie."

For Niccol, The Host encompasses a good deal more for audiences to think over. "I like that at its core it still is a love story, but it does have these broader themes," he said. "We're dealing with the survival of humanity. We're also asking if a species that actually heals the planet has a place on Earth. These are themes that are far more profound than any in Stephenie's previous work. It's hard to say what each person will take from it, but I do hope it entertains and gives them something to chew over."

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