HOKUM- FOLK HORROR AT IT'S FINEST

Director: Damian McCarthy

Release: May 1st 2026

Genre: Folk Horror

Hokum is the kind of horror movie that is less interested in making audiences comfortable, it traps them inside a waking nightmare, forcing them to sit with the dread(we are exactly where we want to be) . Writer/director Damian McCarthy continues to refine the unsettling style that made his earlier films cult classics (Oddity, Caveat). Hokum delivers a gothic folk horror experience that is eerie, claustrophobic, darkly funny, and emotionally bruised all at once. Set largely within a decaying rural Irish hotel ,the film combines supernatural terror with grief, guilt, and the lingering fear that some places remember the people who suffered there.

At the center of the film is Ohm Bauman, played with surprising vulnerability and bitterness by Adam Scott, who turns in one of the strongest performances of his career here. Ohm is not designed to be instantly likable. He is exhausted, sarcastic, emotionally detached, and carrying unresolved trauma that leaks into every interaction. Ohm is a successful novelist suffering from creative mind block and travels to Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes at the hotel where they once honeymooned. From the moment he arrives, the atmosphere turns hostile and uncanny. The staff seem to know more than they admit. Sections of the hotel remain sealed shut. Stories circulate about a witch imprisoned somewhere within the building.

What makes Hokum so effective is the confidence of its atmosphere. McCarthy understands that horror is often about anticipation rather than revelation. The film moves with a slow burn pace, helping the audience to absorb every little detail. The hotel itself becomes the film’s true monster. It is not simply haunted in the conventional sense, it feels spiritually diseased, as if grief and violence have soaked into the wallpaper over centuries. McCarthy shows the interiors like a labyrinth, emphasizing narrow corridors and shadow filled rooms that appear to change depending on the emotional state of the characters.

Visually, the film is remarkable. Damp blues, sickly yellows, and candlelit darkness, creates an oppressive atmosphere where viewers are constantly searching the edges of the frame for movement. Rather than overloading scenes with rapid editing or CGI heavy spectacle, McCarthy frequently lets the camera linger just long enough to make the audience uncomfortable. The result is a film where even ordinary objects begin to feel offputting. The sound design deserves equal praise. The score hums beneath scenes like a living thing, but some of the movie’s most frightening moments arrive in near total silence. Absence is weaponized . They know exactly when to withhold music, and when to interrupt silence with sudden violence. The jump scares work largely because they emerge organically from tension rather than replacing it.

Another strength of the film is it’s blend of tones. There is an undercurrent of bleak humor throughout Hokum, particularly through the supporting performance of David Wilmot as Jerry, a local drifter whose intoxicated ramblings initially seem absurd before becoming unexpectedly important. These moments of strange comedy provide breathing room without undermining the horror. Thematically, Hokum explores inherited trauma and the stories people construct to cope. Ohm’s profession as a writer becomes increasingly significant as the narrative unfolds. He is a man who profits from fictional suffering while refusing to confront his own emotional wounds.

McCarthy seems less concerned with perfectly logical plotting than with creating a cumulative emotional experience. In that respect, the film succeeds brilliantly. By the final scenes, Hokum feels both like a haunting ghost story and like a descent into emotional rot. Much of the film’s success rests on Adam Scott’s performance. He avoids turning Ohm into either a stereotypical cynical protagonist or a straightforward sympathetic victim. Instead, he portrays a man hollowed out by grief, someone whose intelligence becomes useless in the face of terror. His reactions feel human rather than theatrical, which grounds the supernatural material.Fans of modern folk horror will likely appreciate the film’s use of Irish mythology and rural isolation. There are echoes of films like The Witch, The Others, and even The Shining, though McCarthy gives the material its own distinctly Irish identity. The folklore elements never feel decorative. They are woven directly into the emotional architecture of the story. The landscape itself seems ancient and hostile, carrying the weight of forgotten violence.

Overall , Hokum is one of the most atmospheric horror films in recent times . A movie that prioritizes dread over spectacle and mood over explanation. It may frustrate viewers looking for tidy answers or relentless action, but for audiences willing to sink into its oppressive rhythm, the experience is deeply rewarding. Damian McCarthy confirms himself as one of the most exciting voices currently working in horror. Hokum succeeds where it matters most, it gets under your skin. For horror fans craving atmosphere, psychological unease, and genuinely unnerving imagery, Hokum is difficult to shake and even harder to forget. A genuine 10/10 movie for me.