Film Review: Hokum

Hokum
Director: Damien McCarthy
Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Tailored Films
In Theaters: 05.01.2026

What began as a promising start to the horror genre this year has, in my humble opinion,  yielded disappointing results. First we had a clusterfuck called 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, second we had the lackluster Mother Mary and then we had the slightly edited (which led to it being largely different) version of Undertone. Though none of those movies are absolutely diabolically horrible, they’re also not great. They’re just… sort of there. While I was anticipating something more from the internet hype preceding the release of Hokum, it has only furthered my hypothesis that studios know that they can get away with mediocre movies and audiences will, none the wiser, eat them up. What will save us? Hopefully Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, because Hokum sure as hell won’t.

Hokum opens with critically-acclaimed author Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott, Severance, Parks and Rec) struggling to write an ending for his successful Conquistador series. Meanwhile, he is interrupted by the ghost of his dearly departed mother, which prompts Ohm to try and finally put his parents’ spirits to rest. Ohm decides that the best place to spread mom and dad’s ashes is at a teeny tiny hotel in Ireland called Bilberry Woods, since this is one of the only locations he remembers knowing with certainty his parents had a happy experience. While Ohm is attempting to complete his mission, he meets a large cast of whacky Irish characters that exhibit some very rude and aggressive behavior, especially for a budding young alcoholic. There’s Mal (Peter Coonan, Peaky Blinders, We Have Always Lived in the Castle) the Desk Clerk and the owner’s son-in-law, Jerry (David Wilmot, Station Eleven, Hamnet) a hermit perma-tripping on shroom laced goat milk 24/7, bellhop and aspiring writer Alby (Will O’Connell, Game of Thrones) and the lovely hotel bartender Fiona (Florence Ordesh, Departure). 

Fiona goes missing under mysterious circumstances after saving Ohm from attempting suicide. When Ohm comes to, he decides to return the favor and teams up with Jerry to go looking for the beautiful bartender. The only place Ohm and Jerry know the police haven’t searched? The old honeymoon suite on the top floor of Bilberry Woods. A room no one can get into as the hotel’s owner, Cob, believes he has successfully entrapped a witch within its walls. Keeping all the inhabitants of the hotel out and the witch in. 

Normally, I am a huge buyer of anything that Damien McCarthy is selling. I adored his 2020 film Oddity and, even his debut low-budget feat of innovation, Caveat. Though with Hokum, it feels just like the title suggests, pretentious nonsense. McCarthy excels so much at world-building and character development with our unique blend of side characters at the Bilberry Woods, we leave our main character Ohm to drown under all the ideas and B-plots that McCarthy is trying to share with us. There are moments of heartbreaking stories we learn of Ohm’s childhood, yet they feel so throwaway and last minute they don’t land like McCarthy is anticipating them to. I want to like and sympathize with Scott’s character, I really do. McCarthy just didn’t share the love he had for all the other characters in Hokum with our main man Ohm. 

That being said, another detriment to the film is Scott’s performance. I am normally a fan of Scott, but his delivery is so flat and lackluster and it kills any chance the character of Ohm could have at redemption. At certain points in the film, it just sounds like Scott is reading off a cue card rather than delivering the performance we were all excited for. If we’re going to be an alcoholic author, at least give him a little smart-assery or wittiness to make him somewhat bearable. Also to put it plainly, Hokum just isn’t that scary. It’s more thriller than horror movie and the scariest character in the whole film is only on screen for about five minutes. 

This all goes back to a topic I’ve touched on before in many recent reviews: we need to stop pedestaling mediocre movies just because we happen to like a director’s prior work. We should demand more from those who have shown us they can give what it is we’re asking for (looking at you, Zach Cregger). If you’re telling me this movie is going to scare the shit outta me, I better leave the theater with soiled pants and heart murmur. Will I hold a grudge against Mr. McCarthy for this film? No, but if I’m gonna have to sit through another one of his films, it better be worth my time (and the laundry I’ll have to do). —Yonni Uribe

Read more film reviews by Yonni Uribe:
Film Review: Mother Mary
Film Review: The Drama