Attempting to remove all the baggage of “From the writer of Twilight” from The Host and simply judging it for what it is, this trailer sells a small, evocative little scifi movie by way of Nicholas Sparks. There’s a whole lot of teenaged making out amidst the views of a cheap dystopian future ruled by Body Snatchers and some sort of chrome convoy, but ultimately it’s clear between this and the poster who they’re selling this too.

The trailer skimps on getting too heavy with the plot details (admirable) and is definitely selling itself to the romance crowd. I don’t know if it gets shameless enough with the shirtlessness and pale, tweeny-attracting faces, so I don’t know how well it’s going to do. Max Irons kind of has a weird, dumb face that the Twihards would dig, but Jake Abel is a more traditionaly masculine “hot guy,” which this crowd has proven to have no interest in.

Though it stops short of including teenagers turning into animals (and no Taxxons running around) there’s a whole lot of riffing on a book series I grew up with, so I’ll have to try not to be biased. I’m pleased to see someone like Saoirse Ronan (most recently seen in the fun Violet & Daisy) getting more of a profile, though I wish projects like Hanna came around more often and killed the need for her to sign on to a nightmare like this.

The film hits March 29th of next year.

THE HOST is a riveting story about the survival of love and the human spirit in a time of war. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact. Most of humanity has succumbed.