Damian Mc Carthy Carves Another Sweet, Atmospheric Folk Horror in Hokum (SXSW)

Title: Hokum

First Non-Festival Release: April 29, 2026 (Theatrical Release)

Director: Damian Mc Carthy

Writer: Damian Mc Carthy

Runtime: 101 Minutes

Starring: Adam Scott, Florence Ordesh, Peeter Coonan

Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here

This film’s review was written after its screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2026.

As an avenue for terror, folk horror is special with how it mixes our fears of the past, others, and the unexplainable. Folk tales have given us plenty of interesting and terrifying specters to fear but it also forces us to examine how our traditions, beliefs, and actions create the harm that materially affects people in the real world, often through the use of metaphor or spectacle.

Hokum begins with a strange, haunting energy that never lets up throughout the film. A desert adventure ends on a cliffhanger before it’s revealed to be straight from the imagination of writer Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott). Creeping himself out with his own story and the house he lives in, Ohm makes a rash decision to travel to Ireland to spread his parent’s ashes at the hotel where they honeymooned. He arrives with a sour attitude, one that hotel employee Fiona (Florence Ordesh) slightly improves with her kindness. That night he arrives; a series of escalating events captivate Ohm into staying longer and may or may not have something to do with the staff rumors that a witch haunts the gated off honeymoon suite.

Crafting an atmospheric, dread-drenched folk horror, writer/director Damian Mc Carthy proves he’s here to stay with his excellent third feature Hokum.

The charm of Hokum is impossible to ignore. Blending together so many familiar tropes with fresh spins, it transforms its seemingly simple ghost story into something special. There’s plenty of quirks in the hotel that feel convenient but still make for excellent set pieces later in the film: a locked room, a mysterious dumbwaiter, a ghostly bell. What could easily be an amalgamation of horror’s greatest hits, Mc Carthy challenges himself by subverting the familiar ways in which these moments play out. Relying on misdirection and well-timed surprises, Hokum balances its sharper scares with its creeping atmosphere.

Melding mystery with horror, Hokum ensures that its story doesn’t follow a simple path toward resolution. In his efforts to find Fiona, Ohm gets himself into plenty of near-impossible situations but thanks to his wit and determination, he’s able to wriggle out of death’s grip more than once with dramatic flair. The many suspicious characters that populate the Bilberry Woods Hotel and its surrounding forest make for excellent suspects. With conflicting accounts and reasonable doubts of character, Ohm’s self-appointed job becomes much more difficult, simultaneously making it harder for the audience to guess how it all pieces together.

The driving force of Hokum is Ohm’s quest to find, and either save or secure closure for, Fiona while its hook is the witch peripheral to her disappearance.

Ohm is a prickly protagonist that argues and condescends while secretly having a good heart. A remarkably interesting and complex character, Ohm doesn’t receive absolution for his herculean efforts to get to the bottom of Fiona’s disappearance. Instead, he challenges ideas of what redemption can look like. No one wants Ohm around, especially after his initial impressions on the staff and his later choices. His persistence in the face of so much annoyance and frustration with his presence becomes endearing when it’s revealed he isn’t curmudgeon, just a hurt man with plenty of unresolved guilt. Hokum doesn’t excuse any of his less desirable qualities, but it does show that sometimes hurt people lash out when they don’t have the closure and support they need. Adam Scott plays him with enough care and nuance to make the performance land exquisitely.

Beautifully filmed, Hokum uses its quaint setting to its maximum ability to unnerve. Transforming a hotel room into a tomb, Hokum puts Ohm through the wringer. The tight framing and cramped spaces evoke feelings of claustrophobia while the crumbling suite elicits feelings of disgust with the rot and decay juxtaposed against luxury. It contrasts beautifully with the lovely exterior and interior of the usable parts of the hotel. But there’s also this shot of Ohm going down the dumbwaiter that disrupts the confined feeling in the most spectacular way, emanating feelings of exhilaration and fear every time it is used. Each shot of Hokum feels intentional and adds to the overwhelming sense of dread infused with the narrative.

Simple folk horror that is elevated by its efforts of subversion along with every other aspect of its production makes Hokum another great supernatural horror film from Mc Carthy. Scott leads with command while Mc Carthy directs the hell out of his witchy tale of guilt and trauma. Beautifully filmed and designed, Hokum is a positively haunting experience that will turn on any horror fan seeking a little bit of Irish horror goodness.

Overall Score? 8/10