Best-selling author Stephenie Meyer comes back to the big screen with the film adaptation of her book “The Host.” This time around Meyer plays around with a whole new concept. Gone are the sparkling vampires and helpful werewolves, instead Meyer introduces the audience to the future.

Directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons and Jake Abel, “The Host” follows a futuristic love story in a world where human bodies have been invaded by alien souls. The movie follows Melanie Stryder, played by Ronan, a human girl who has survived the invasion and is the key to finding one of the last pockets of human beings according to The Seeker, played by Diane Kruger. The movie begins with Melanie being infused with a soul called Wanderer who is later nicknamed Wanda.

While humans normally lose control of their bodies when infused with a soul, Melanie survives and attempts to fight for control of her body. Soon Wanda and Melanie flee together in search of Melanie’s Uncle, Jeb Stryder, portrayed by William Hurt.

Meyer incorporates a plot element that “Twilight” fans will recognize when Wanda, in Melanie’s body, develops feelings for a human, Ian O’Shea who is played by Abel. These feelings cause the character Jared, played by Irons, pain.

The highly anticipated movie fell flat and was not as good as it could’ve been. Melanie and Wanda’s relationship and arguments might be a little too complicated to put on a movie screen. It is hard for the audience members to understand what is going on if they have not read the book. Their conversations might be a little hard to understand due to the fact that there is no voice differentiation between Melanie and Wanda.

Even though her chemistry with her love interests was not as intense as it should’ve been, Ronan comes off confident in the screen and seems to handle the challenge of playing two characters at once very well. Her characters look believable and emotional most of the time. Irons is everything a Stephanie Meyer-style Prince Charming is expected to be. His good looks are sure to get attention from the female fans in the theater, and his acting should be good enough to appease the critics. On the other hand, Abel will be relying purely on his good looks since his acting felt forced and his chemistry with Ronan was almost non-existent.

The movie had potential; Meyer’s story is appealing and interesting, but it came short. It was poorly scripted and the acting felt fake and uninteresting. It was not as good as it was expected to be, and all the hype around it felt unnecessary after watching it. “The Host” is a completely different story than “Twilight,” and “Twilight” fans will leave the theater disappointed. Over all, the movie is a nice bubblegum love story that is fun to watch with friends on a boring day, but it is nothing extraordinary.