Well said on all accounts, as always.
I do like your honesty about wanting to stay stateside, even as you evenly evaluate the movie's metaphor.
I also like how you don't take 'death of the author' so far as utterly ignore what the creator says. I have had people rigidly defend a view of the Host's themes and metaphors that... lacks nuance to say the least. And these include fellow Canadians, who don't have a horse in the race.