An impertinent novelist with a dark secret travels to rural Ireland to fulfill a sacred duty, but encounters a terrifying supernatural mystery at a haunted hotel in Hokum. Writer/director Damian McCarthy delivers the horror goods to near perfection in a superbly crafted narrative loaded with bombshell twists. Your skin will crawl as the creepy cinematography builds suspense to legitimate scares that aren’t predictable. Hokum is a much-needed breath of rotting air in a stale genre that rarely has anything this creative and well-executed.
Famed writer Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) drinks heavily as he struggles to complete his latest book. He opens a locked box and sighs with the weight of what comes next, as he travels to a remote Irish hotel to spread his parents’ remains. We then see Ohm arriving at the Bilberry Hotel in a remote Irish forest. While there, he meets the manager, Mal (Peter Coonan), and the bartender, Fiona (Florence Ordesh), who regale the author with stories of the haunted honeymoon suite.
Hokum grips from the opening minutes with McCarthy’s brilliant protagonist exposition. Ohm is clearly an abrasive person who is struggling with some undisclosed heavy burden. He savors being brusque and discourteous to the point of true revulsion. Social grace means nothing to him, and he isn’t afraid to make any harsh feelings known. McCarthy doesn’t want the audience rooting for Ohm by default; there are layers that need to be peeled back before any empathy for Ohm can be felt. What happened to this man to make him so miserable?
Scott is in top acting form as Ohm’s curiosity and self-loathing trigger an unexpected journey of discovery. Ohm’s no fool who dashes anywhere haphazardly. He’s an abstract thinker who gauges this unfamiliar environment with healthy skepticism. His investigation into the hotel’s strange history and ominous surrounding woods after he learns of a bizarre occurrence is prompted by prudent action. There’s a reason Ohm wants to peek in corners and go where others fear to tread. McCarthy’s steady stream of shocking reveals gives Ohm valid introspection as the plot thickens. The skeletons in his closet are inexorably linked to the hotel. He won’t achieve peace until uncovering the truth, but will his rational mind accept a supernatural turn that should be impossible?
McCarthy continues to be a meticulous filmmaker with a bold vision. Hokum, his third feature after Caveat and Oddity, successfully builds on previous spine-tingling themes. McCarthy loves a mystery in haunted settings. The Bilberry Hotel is the stuff of childhood nightmares. It’s old and dark with strange objects everywhere. Each painting, clock, and sinister statue gets a vengeful close-up like a killer stalking prey. We can feel Ohm’s growing unease as he skittishly explores with a limited field of vision. McCarthy keeps depth in darkness, so there’s no visibility into what’s lurking down a hall, shaft, or stairwell. He also uses sideways tracking shots to allow Ohm the freedom to constantly turn around without having to edit. This is quite effective when Ohm feels he’s being followed or something is approaching him.
McCarthy doesn’t rely on excessive gore or carnage for shock value. Hokum’s violence is straightforward, savage, and efficient. You literally don’t see it coming, and that’s pretty darn scary. McCarthy’s not broadcasting jump scares from a mile away. Death doesn’t arrive on cue when the music stops or someone looks inside a closet. Hokum respects its characters and puts them in the right situation for slaughter. Every corpse has an arc with breadcrumb trails leading to it. This is granular folklore horror without flashy bells and whistles, and that’s why it’s so effective.
Hokum sticks the landing in a banner third act that ties every thread together in a tidy bow. McCarthy sprinkles many clues throughout, so the climax makes sense and is incredibly thoughtful. It’s rare for a horror film to handle character redemption and closure with such dexterity. Ohm’s fate isn’t random, with another turn that’s quite satisfying given the story’s context. Scott deserves credit for emoting Ohm’s palpable change without being overblown. He was never afraid to express his opinion, but exorcises his demons and accepts a deserved outcome. Hokum’s final scene could not have been any better. Hollywood, please give McCarthy a blockbuster budget, and let’s see what he can do.
- Release Date
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May 1, 2026
- Runtime
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101 Minutes
- Director
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Damian McCarthy
- Writers
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Damian McCarthy
- Producers
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Derek Dauchy, MairtÃn de Barra, Roy Lee, Julianne Forde, Steven Schneider, Ruth Treacy
