In his previous two movies—2020’s Caveat and 2024’s Oddity—Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy has proved himself horror’s biggest proponent of cursed objects and haunted places. His dark fairy tale-style of storytelling weaves together oddball characters, shady criminal mysteries, supernatural comeuppance, and big, bulgy eyeballs. I, for one, love all this stuff. McCarthy’s new movie, Hokum, takes and refines all of these elements, with a clearly bigger scale which includes a Hollywood star, Adam Scott. The result has more shine but no less macabre, ghostly fun.
Both Caveat and Oddity took place in houses, each with their own vibe of creepiness. Hokum moves the action to a rural hotel which is both bigger and more ornate than you’d expect and rundown and behind the times. It has the feel of a smaller Irish Overlook Hotel, but one with people actually there. McCarthy’s horrors are at once familiar and inexplicable, common yet unknowable, and always a mix of the eldritch and the everyday. And boy, let me tell you, Hokum has some absolute top-tier, A-level scare moments.
In Hokum, Scott plays a horror writer named Ohm Bauman. He’s a fairly miserable man who lives alone and is a dick to everyone. When he hits a bit of a wall with his latest book, he decides to travel to Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes at the very hotel at which they spent their honeymoon. Bauman “endears” himself to members of the staff, especially bartender Fiona (Florence Ordesh), and meets the drug-using drifter Jerry (David Wilmot) who lives in a campervan out in the woods.
The hotel, however, has more than few secrets. The owner and management have locked and chained the honeymoon suite, owing to their belief that the ghost of a witch haunts it. You get things like that in Irish folklore. Some, like Jerry, fully believe in such tales. When members of the hotel staff start disappearing, Bauman and Jerry decide they need to get inside the honeymoon suite and face whatever dark nightmares might reside.
Hokum is, first and foremost, a blast. I had such a good time, even as I was tensing up and jumping at the various scares. McCarthy does a terrific job of keeping the audience on their toes in terms of what kind of scare will hit them next. Hit plots are often a bit too twisty for their own good, and that is true here, but the main throughline, coupled with the gorgeously grim setting and variety of scary stuff, makes up for any narrative bagginess. That really is my major complaint, and luckily, it doesn’t spoil the movie.
Adam Scott is one of my favorite actors working today. Through roles in Parks and Rec and Severance, he’s a hero I feel I can always root for. But let us not forget what a perfect asshole he can play, as he did for so many years earlier in his career. He brings a lot of that to play Ohm Bauman, especially in the first half. Just an absolute piece of crap to most of the people he meets. But, naturally, as the movie goes on and we spend more time with him, we get a small window into why he is the way he is.
Hokum once again exemplifies McCarthy’s ability to create mood and atmosphere through the geography of the setting. The hotel feels lived-in, each room and corridor has its own distinct look. The honeymoon suite is basically a haunted house within a haunted house. I have to wonder if McCarthy had a particular place in mind when writing the script and tried to replicate it with the set. Or, did he tailor the scares to the set once it was built? Either way, it’s such a triumph. One specific scare is one of the best I’ve seen in years. McCarthy always gives us at least one banger per movie, and he sure did it here.
I love it when a voice in horror grows without changing their ethos. Getting NEON on board, plus a Hollywood star, doesn’t make Hokum any less Irish or any less weird. Ghosts, witches, and an effed-up, bug-eyed donkey man. I loved it all. Like the best haunted houses, this one gives you plenty of chills while you can’t help smiling.
⭐ (4 of 5)
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.
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