Horror movie Host, about a group of friends performing a seance during a Zoom call, is already the best-reviewed horror film of 2020, an honor it thoroughly deserves. With tight storytelling, excellent effects, and a script that feels wholly authentic, Host delivers on its premise with precision and style. None of that is why it will be mentioned in countless thought pieces and essays years from now, however. What makes Host so important is the context in which it was created: the global pandemic.
Raging across the world since the beginning of the year, the COVID-19 virus has kept people in various stages of lockdown for months. Regular activities have either halted altogether or had to adjust dramatically. And while things are (sort of) improving, getting together with your mates for a pint on the weekend is still an unnerving exercise in risk management. One minor benefit of the enforced isolation is the creativity it has brought out of people as they scramble for something, anything, to alleviate the soul-crushing boredom.
The core idea of Host began as a prank video from director Rob Savage. While chatting with his friends on a Zoom call, he mentions that he’s been hearing noises in the attic. He heads off to investigate, camera in tow, and one excellent stunt fall (and a wee bit of footage from Rec) later, a viral video was born. Horror streaming service Shudder noticed the video, thought it was a cool idea, and reached out to Savage about making a feature length movie based on the same idea.
Host was filmed entirely in lockdown and with all the limitations that implies. The available shooting locations - also known as the actors’ own homes - informed the beats of the plot. Haley investigates a sound coming from her hallway because she happens to live in an apartment with a creepy hallway. Caroline pokes her head into her attic for similar reasons. Teddy’s girlfriend levitates over the pool because hey, there’s a pool, may as well make use of it. The cast took Savage’s direction over Zoom, filming themselves with phones taped to their laptops. That Host actually emerged as a coherent film, nevermind one this good, is semi-miraculous and a testament to the talent and ingenuity of everyone involved with creating it.
The pandemic creates the perfect excuse for a group of friends to all be watching each other on camera, thus creating the vehicle by which Host can tell its spooky tale. Watching it in 2020, as masking up to go to the grocery store is normal but hugging friends is not, everything in Host is recognizable. Haley’s elbow bump with Jemma. Caroline scolding her father for going to the pub. Teddy stuck sheltering at his girlfriend’s parents’ house. No explanation necessary, as the audience is going through the exact same things as they’re watching.
Host doesn’t take the time to explain the pandemic, because it knows when it was made and knows the audience is acutely aware of the limitations on their lives. But what will future viewers of Host - undoubtedly intrigued by its stellar reviews - think of these bizarre situations? Will they know about the pandemic? Will a teenager in 2040 looking for a retro scare understand why Radina and her boyfriend are living together so soon? Or why Jemma hastily grabs a mask to run to Haley’s house? What will they think of Teddy saying he broke quarantine to get his grandmother’s music box?
Something that will inevitably be lost in historical descriptions of the pandemic will be the overwhelming sense of claustrophobia it caused. The number of deaths will be recorded alongside images of refrigerated trucks serving as temporary morgues, but those naked facts won’t evoke the emotional tautness everyone was grappling with on a daily basis. The oppressive sameness that bore down as one day resembled the next, an unuttered scream of aggravation constantly locked behind gritted teeth as humanity was slowly, slowly, slowly attacked by an invisible enemy.
Host captures the essence of the quarantine in a way that only something conceived, created, and released during the quarantine possibly could. It’s a bizarre cultural artifact whose significance will, in time, be appreciated beyond its ability to deliver a good scare. Host is an excellent horror movie, but it’s also a time capsule for a very specific feeling of fear, uncertainty, and frustration that will, with luck, be unique to 2020.