Stuck trying to complete his latest book—a trilogy-capper whose arrival is so anticipated it’s teased on a magazine cover—American author Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) decides an inspirational detour is in order. As Hokum begins, he packs up his parents’ ashes and heads to Ireland, intent on depositing their remains in the forest near where they spent their honeymoon.
His macabre mission is a success, but the rural Bilberry Woods Hotel—a place nearly as stuffed with otherworldly unrest as The Shining’s Overlook—throws some fresh agony in Ohm’s path. There’s a distressing mystery to solve involving an employee who’s recently disappeared. And there’s also (maybe) a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Even still, Ohm’s struggle through his own long-festering emotional wounds proves to be the film’s most urgent journey.
Hokum marks the highest-profile release to date from Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy, who broke out with 2000’s very low-budget Caveat and got even more attention with 2024’s Oddity, especially after the latter hit horror streamer Shudder. Hokum is getting a wide theatrical release through Neon and has an immediately recognizable star in Scott.
Though he was once seen as more of a comedy actor, Scott’s layered performance in Severance has brought him fresh acclaim, and Hokum gives him a lot to explore as the bitter, sarcastic Ohm. Despite his career success—we’re told a couple of his books have even been made into movies—Ohm seems dismissive of his achievements. He’s seriously considering ending his popular series with a violent, downbeat epilogue that dooms his main characters.
And as we can clearly see, the adventure stories that’ve brought him fame don’t square with the closed-off, frequently drunk man we follow to Ireland. In fact, he’s got a lot on his mind even before he ends up in a creepy hotel. The locals’ talk of folklore and superstition may make him snort in disgust, but we already know he’s being pestered by psychic guilt so monumental it’s caused him to question his own reality from time to time.
The veil gets thinner once Ohm checks into the Bilberry Woods, and there’s no better setting for McCarthy to dig into his big bag of spooky tricks. This is a writer-director who loves creatively lighting dark rooms and hallways to maximize highly effective jump scares—as well as moments where you’re not sure what you’re seeing out of the corner of your eye, but dear god, please don’t let it come any closer.
McCarthy is also a master of infusing mechanical things (clocks, elevators, bells) and weird objects (did you see Oddity?) with a sinister, almost sentient quality. Ohm’s quest through the hotel’s secret nooks and crannies means he must confront not just spirits (be they real or imagined) but also the old building’s quirky, puzzle-like layout.
It all serves Hokum’s desire to keep the viewer on edge throughout. If a filmmaker zapping the tension with something scary popping out of a shadow feels cliched to you, well, McCarthy does it better than most, and the imagery he confronts you with tends to be genuine nightmare fodder.
With Scott’s star power and Hokum’s somewhat bigger budget, the film is McCarthy’s most polished work to date, which is both a good and bad thing. On the negative side, it feels like there was a push to make Ohm’s dreary arc more redemptive. There are also some script choices that feel like they’re speaking directly to the audience—as one character does on Ohm’s voice recorder—rather than pulling back on exposition in favor of ambiguity.
Those are minor quibbles, however, in a movie that succeeds in the most important way: it’s scary as hell. Even its tropes feel razor-sharp and designed to make you gasp or scream, depending on how much self-control you have.
Along with Scott, Hokum also features memorable performances from Peter Coonan (as the hotel’s manager); David Wilmot (as a hippie type who lives nearby); Florence Ordesh (as the hotel’s sympathetic bartender); and especially Will O’Connell (as the hotel’s incredibly un-self-aware bellhop).
A special shout-out also goes to Hokum’s reckless goats—and its production design team, too, which crafts a setting that blends folk horror with rustic hospitality and will make you swiftly rethink any dreams of visiting rural Ireland.
Hokum opens in theaters May 1.
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