Director Damian McCarthy brings us another scary story set in Ireland, this time with Severance’s Adam Scott encountering a witch. Here’s our Hokum review. With Caveat and Oddity, Irish writer-director Damian McCarthy established himself as one of the most exciting horror directors working at the moment. Both films took a greater interest in mood over ... Hokum review | The director of Oddity returns with a superior hotel horror
Director Damian McCarthy brings us another scary story set in Ireland, this time with Severance’s Adam Scott encountering a witch. Here’s our Hokum review.
With Caveat and Oddity, Irish writer-director Damian McCarthy established himself as one of the most exciting horror directors working at the moment. Both films took a greater interest in mood over plot, stretched small budgets to impressive lengths and held many secrets, some of which might only reveal themselves with rewatches. And, quite simply, the filmmaker is really good at scaring us.
Now comes Hokum, a heftier project with a bigger budget and a Hollywood star: Severance’s Adam Scott. He plays a deeply unlikeable character who we still find ourselves rooting for.
Scott’s moody writer Ohm Bauman heads to a secluded hotel in rural Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes – years earlier, they’d spent their honeymoon at there. There’s the immediate feeling that something is eating Bauman from the inside. Maybe it’s Scott’s wonderfully restrained performance that gives us that impression – or maybe it’s the creepy ghost he spots at home, lurking in the shadows.
After Bauman arrives at the hotel, things progress at a steady pace, with plenty of scares and glimpses of the supernatural. Hokum doesn’t exactly present us with anything wildly different from other examples in the genre, but McCarthy once again proves he’s a master of atmosphere.
Much like Oddity and Caveat, there’s a heaviness to Hokum. As in McCarthy’s previous films, there isn’t such a thing as an innocent character; everyone is hiding something, everyone is a little ugly on the inside. Again, like those earlier films, Hokum asks whether it’s places or people that are haunted. Maybe it’s both.
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This is all before we get to the supposedly haunted honeymoon suite that has been locked up for years. A witch is said to have been locked in there, so naturally, Bauman makes his way inside. But could there be worse things in the room than a witch?
The so-called “elevated horror” craze seems to have calmed down a little, and Hokum certainly isn’t trying to bring it back. Instead, it leans into the genre’s most delicious cliches. While it could be argued that a jumpscare is nothing but a loud noise, McCarthy ensures that his are decisively crafted and built up to, making the loud noise the cherry on top of the suspense.
Even though we know that the jumpscare is coming, it becomes like a game of cat and mouse as McCarthy keeps toying with us, keeping us waiting for the scare to finally hit and leaving us to worry about which corner of the screen to watch out for.
After all, a horror film doesn’t look for just an emotional response, but a physical one. The most successful scary movies make us hide behind our fingers, jump at those loud noises, shiver with fright and question what might linger under our beds or in the dark corners of our houses, hours after the credits have rolled. It’s not an easy job to do, but McCarthy manages to do it effortlessly.
But Hokum does feel a whole lot less challenging than McCarthy’s previous work. Caveat might have been a little too vague for its own good despite its nightmarish images, but Oddity found a perfect balance between strangeness and traditional horror storytelling.
In comparison, Hokum feels a little lighter, a little easier than the director’s earlier Work. Fans of those films might find themselves short-changed.
Still, there’s much fun to be had with Hokum, and it’s certainly a film best enjoyed late at night in complete darkness, with lots of popcorn and friends to scream with. If the rest of 2026’s horror films are like Hokum, we’re in for a terrifyingly outstanding year.
Hokum is in UK cinemas now.
