Hokum stars Adam Scott as successful yet apathetic author Ohm Bauman, who journeys to Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes. He brings with him childhood trauma, a drinking problem and a pure hatred of the world. He has a touch of the Stephen King to him, or at least a King novel self-insert character, and so does this chilling supernatural, psychological horror.
Upfront, the author is told not to head to the Honeymoon Suite of the hotel he’s staying at due to a haunting and overhears an elderly man at reception telling two children about local folklore. The hotel and its grounds are full of eccentric locals, including a man in the forest outside (David Wilmot) who appears to be hiding out and making his own hallucinogenics, gentle bartender, Fiona (Florence Ordesh), and a wannabe writer turned bellhop, Alby (Will O’Connell).
All Work And No Play Makes Ohm A Dull Boy
Once Ohm has completed his task of spreading his parents’ ashes, he finds himself getting caught up in the mysteries of the hotel he is staying at. He becomes involved in looking for one of the hotel’s missing employees, feeling like he owes them after an earlier incident. There is more than a whiff of The Shining to Hokum and its leading man, treading through the retro carpets of a haunted hotel, battling his own demons.
This supernatural horror is very much to the point. At 107 minutes, it gets straight into the story and doesn’t waste too much time on clunky set-ups and expositions. The writing is admirably straightforward and lacks pretence, like you are being told a ghost story around a campfire. While filmmakers now seem to love stuffing their overlong tales with unnecessary side plots and characters, writer/director Damian McCarthy doesn’t waste a single person or piece of dialogue.
Adam Scott is a great choice for Ohm, a character who is introduced as dislikable yet asks audiences to root for him. Because Scott is so known for playing likable, down-to-earth characters, you’ll find yourself warming towards him, even when he’s refusing to give his signature to a die-hard fan or offer advice to a writer hoping to crack the industry. There are a couple of moments where Scott’s understated reactions could be read as wooden, but it works in the context of his character. Hokum doesn’t try to give Ohm a neat redemption arc either, understanding that trauma and mental illness can’t be defeated overnight.
The actual conclusion to the mystery falls a little flat. The anticipation for the evil within the hotel is better than the actual payoff, which falls apart when dissected too closely. Hokum does play one of its hands too early, resolving the disappearance and the procedural elements too soon. The film effectively sets up a murder mystery element only to immediately give the answer away. Although the simplicity and lack of exposition should be applauded, there is a scarcity of lore here that softens some of the third act blows.
Hokum isn’t doing anything extraordinary here, but it is an effective folk horror. It’s eerie and creepy, relying on camera trickery and the soundtrack to get under your skin. Fans of darker, gorier horror films may find themselves disengaged by how tame this film is. While there are many effective jump scares and visuals that might keep you up at night, it is nowhere near the thrills of other modern horrors. But, the film should be applauded for how refrained it is, preferring to soak the atmosphere in dread and worry than fake blood. McCarthy knows when to show the monster, for how long, and when to leave it to the imagination. Sure, you won’t see a head explode but what you can’t see, lurking in the shadow, is much more terrifying.
Like any good horror, Hokum is full of subtext. McCarthy is happy to use surrealism and grotesquerie to tell a human story about one man learning the power of self-forgiveness and self-love. The only time this subtext feels like you’re being banged over the head with is in the bookend scenes that bring Ohm’s book to life.
Hokum announces Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy as seriously one to watch in horror. This is his third feature film, following the independent Caveat (2020) and Shudder production Oddity (2024). McCarthy has an eye for incorporating Irish folklore into modern horror and an even better eye for shoving protagonists into isolated spaces and torturing them. He never overplays his hand yet still brings audiences a deeply disturbing film that will get under your skin.
Hokum will be in theaters on May 1.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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