Manohla Dargis of '' The New York Times '' gave the film an unfavorable review , calling it " a brazen combination of unoriginal science-fiction themes , young-adult pandering and bottom-line calculation " . Todd McCarthy of '' The Hollywood Reporter '' felt that " it 's cloaked in yawningly familiar teen-romance terms and cries out for even a little seasoning of wit , irreverence , political smarts and genre twists that , given the well-trod terrain , seem like requisites when presenting visions of the near future . " Roth Cornet of IGN gave it a " mediocre " score of 5/10 , stating that the film is " unintentionally laughable " and " frustratingly absurd " . Cornet says that it could have made an interesting story but that the contradictions of the peaceful but parasitic Souls were not fully explained , in the case of the character Seeker only given a shallow unsatisfying explanation . She praises Ronan for her performance and blames a " fundamentally flawed " script . Ben Kenigsberg of '' Time Out '' magazine blames the source material , crediting Niccol for making the best of it , but primarily blaming the high-definition – video cinematography saying it makes " what once would have been a lush , grand-scale blockbuster appear cheap and televisual . " '' The Host '' was the penultimate film to be reviewed by film critic Roger Ebert before his death on April 4 , 2013 , and the last major film to be published in his lifetime . He rated the film 2.5 / 4 stars , saying " '' The Host '' is top-heavy with profound , sonorous conversations , all tending to sound like farewells . The movie is so consistently pitched at the same note , indeed , that the structure robs it of possibilities for dramatic tension . " Saoirse Ronan was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for her performance in '' The Host '' , under the category " Choice Movie Actress : Sci-fi/Fantasy " , but lost to Kristen Stewart for her performance in '' The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn – Part 2 ''
Teen Choice Award
2013 Teen Choice Awards
The Host (2013 film)