Host (2020)--My take on the movie with spoilers!

 

PLOT SUMMARY: A group of friends hold a seance via a Zoom meeting. Things go wrong quickly when they make a connection. 

With the lockdown enforced in most countries due to the dreaded coronavirus, a lot of people have been depressed due to the lack of social interaction.

Then Zoom came along and decided to solve at least this problem caused by the virus. People can now arrange meetings online and see each other. But the free plan only allows around 40 minutes of a meeting.

Considering Host is based entirely on a group of friends who will interact via Zoom, we know the movie isn’t going to drag and get to the horror bits quickly.

The friends consist of Haley, Emma, Jemma, Radina, Caroline and Teddy. They’ve clearly run out of things to talk about and, well it’s the lockdown so where are they going to meet new people to make friends with? So they decide to hold a seance and seek friendship from the other world.

No, this may not have actually happened, but since no other explanation is ever given as to why a group of friends are always unnecessarily holding seances, we have to assume is because they want a cool supernatural friend in their group. I can understand if people hold seances so they can speak to someone they knew and is now dead. But that is rarely the case. Nobody ever wants to speak to their grandparents who are no more. Sad.

HOST Movie Plot

The meeting begins with Haley taking the initiative. Clearly, she’s too serious about the seance and isn’t amused when her friend Jemma seems to take it lightly. Jemma is the mischievous friend who likes to make jokes at the expense of everything. Haley doesn’t seem to like her much. Throughout the movie, Haley maintains only one expression that says “Why isn’t anyone taking this seriously? I made such a big deal about this seance, even found a medium. Ugh!”

The others join in except for Teddy, and the girls talk about how he is taking literally every picture with his girlfriend Jinny. Apparently, they don’t like to see their friend Teddy happy in a relationship. He’s happy, they should be too, but instead they resort to some unkind remarks.

Teddy finally comes and flaunts his relationship and his swimming pool. He leaves when the connection isn’t clear and heads indoors.

Radina has a talk with her husband who is in the kitchen in the background. He leaves in a huff and Radina explains to her friends how she now has the room to herself to talk to all of them.

The husband was obviously cooking while she was going to chat with her friends and do seances. She could have just gone in another room. Again, another scene where we must draw our own conclusions as to what the argument was about. As revenge, the husband doesn’t bother informing her there might be something baking in the oven. Take that, Radina!

The friends goof off for a bit and show off their weird filters. Caroline has put up a video of herself in the background.

Haley calls her friend Seylan who is the medium. She asks everyone to light a candle and envision everyone holding hands and that a rope is tied around their waist. Just a connection to the other world. She wants to ask who they want to contact.

Jemma tells them a story of a boy called Jack who was in school with her and how nice he was to her. However, he killed himself one day and now Jemma wants to say hi to him.

Seylan asks them all to call Jack and repeat chants.

Teddy’s girlfriend Jinny comes and takes him away because they have better things to do than partake in seances.

Some lights flicker and Seylan asks if they hear knocking. They do. It’s Seylan’s delivery. She apologizes and leaves. The others make fun of her hippie lifestyle and wonder if she has ordered hippie food. Haley isn’t amused and retains her expression of why everyone isn’t serious about this.

Seylan comes on but something happens behind her and her connection goes off.

The others hear knocking and Caroline insists they all come with her as she checks her attic. She doesn’t want to be alone. Is she on the phone or laptop? Must be the phone because she climbs with it toward the attic. Once there, she shows her friends her messy attic. In fact, she’s already shown how messy her house and drawers her. Rather than doing seances, she could just as easily have spent that time cleaning and organizing her house. But yes, seances are fun. Caroline is just about to find out how much.

She scans her messy attic and we see hovering feet. Everyone has seen it except for Emma and when she turns back it isn’t there. The others experience flickering lights and glasses shattering. Haley comes up with a genius idea of using her Polaroid camera instead of flashlights or maybe just turning on the lights of her house. She takes various pictures and the others don’t see anything, but she claims she saw a figure.

The friends are freaked out and call Seylan who finally connects with them. Jemma reveals she lied about Jack and he doesn’t exist. Seylan informs the friends that they made a terrible mistake and since they didn’t call in a particular person, they created a mask which any demon can enter through and wear. She advises they ask for forgiveness and tell the demon to go away.

They all do it and for a while, everything seems quiet. Seylan gets disconnected again.

But just as suddenly weird things begin to happen as soon as they all return from the bathroom break. Again, Haley is the one who goes to the bathroom and the others duly follow.

Radina, upon returning decides she finally wants to see what her husband is up to. She can’t find him and when she calls, his phone is found in the closet. Caroline simply disappears and the others can only see her background video. Emma sees a weird figure and hides under her blanket.

Remember as kids, when we were scared and hid under the blanket? Apparently, that’s the safest thing to do. Blankets are where spirits get confused and can’t catch you.

Caroline comes back to view and is hitting her head.

HOST Ending Explained with Spoilers!

Radina is calling someone when the smoke erupts from the oven. The other girls call out and she comes and asks what they could possibly want. Just then her husband’s body falls from the roof. He’s lying in a pool of blood.

Radina tries to run but elevates and is killed immediately. All we see is spots of blood on her screen.

Haley is pushed back in her chair and dragged outside the door and out of view.

Jemma wears a mask, badly. She doesn’t cover her nose and decides she’s going to check up on Haley. Emma tells her not to but Jemma is already running with her phone. She needs to capture every minute.

Meanwhile, Teddy has returned and makes fun of his friends by calling him fat. He doesn’t notice the empty screens of the blood spots on the others. Emma keeps trying to warn him but Teddy doesn’t care. He walks around the house, showing more mess in his house. No one is using their time off productively.

He sees Jinny and she too is raised in the air, then killed and thrown into the pool. Teddy panics and runs but falls and is knocked out. A fire starts and burns him all over.

Emma screams and is killed when she comes out of the blanket.

Jemma throws a rock on Haley’s window and enters. Haley is hiding and keeping social distances in mind, they bump elbows upon meeting. Haley uses the Polaroid again and takes pictures. A dark figure finally comes and attacks them both.

The end.

Everyone dies.

Zoom sends an alert that the free time is over and they need to upgrade their plan. Too bad no one is left alive to do so.

New rule in the pandemic, avoid Zoom calls and seances. Try sorting out your houses instead. A clean house is a happy house.

Scare scale: 

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