Given the recent surge in films that have everything happening entirely across screens, it was only a matter of time before the global quarantine — and the resulting reliance on video-conferencing apps — had filmmakers reaching for their screen record button once again. However, unlike the sharp thrillers Searching (2018) and C U Soon (2020), in which crime-solving plots became a showcase for the boundless wonders of technology, Host is a sharp look at its limitations. Even its title, flitting between verb and noun, is a clever play on words — six friends gather to host an online planchette only to become hosts to a demonic entity. Is technology the devil? Anyone who’s spent the last year attending Zoom meetings on a low-configuration internet connection would not disagree.
Across a brief 56 minutes, Host combines three subgenres into one film — found-footage, pandemic, and possession — into a combination that’s surprisingly fresh, and not quite seen before. While the paranormal activities make for moments of genuine scariness, the film also takes a moment to address current mental health issues. Jokes about parents who won’t stay indoors betray underlying worries about their mortality. Director Rob Savage avoids the Covid baggage by handling these conversations with a delicate touch and framing them as arguments between friends. This is a film that’s content to simply observe the impact of life in lockdown, rather than make a huge statement about it.
Technology is more an enemy than a friend in ‘Host’. The internet goes out at a crucial moment, an offensive Zoom background pulls a cruel bait-and-switch and a face filter is the mere basis of a heart-stopping jump scare. A weird Zoom pop-up that asks, ‘Running out of time?’ appears only to make fun of the terrorized group. Despite being in contact over a video call, each friend is painfully alone in their own home, fighting an invisible force that’s everywhere all at once. It’s no accident that the one thing that helps them get a clear-cut picture of the demonic presence is an analog polaroid camera. Is Savage commenting on how even modern technology can’t stave off scary worries? He couldn’t have picked a better time to do it.
Text by: Sreyoshi Sil, IBTN9
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