Film Review: HOKUM (2026): Adam Scott Plays a Writer Staying in a Haunted Inn in This Terrifying Treat
Hokum Review
Hokum (2026) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Damian Mc Carthy and starring Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Austin Amelio, Michael Patric, Will O’Connell, Brendan Conroy and Florence Ordesh.
Hokum is a delightfully twisted new horror film from filmmaker Damian Mc Carthy. This movie has serious The Shining vibes, but it is a lot more accessible for general horror audiences than that Stephen King-penned tale of terror. Adam Scott plays a novelist named Ohm Bauman who is working on his latest story but having a hard time coming to a decision on how to end it. It takes place in a desert and the film starts off with the story of Bauman’s writing struggles within the context of the actual story line featured in the new picture. Hokum has some clever tricks up its sleeve that will be absolutely gleeful for fans of terrifying films.
When staying at an Irish inn to focus on his work, Scott’s character takes a liking to a woman who is employed there named Fiona (Florence Ordesh). Although they don’t necessarily get off on the right foot, Ohm and Fiona bond because Ohm says she reminds him of his own mother (Mallory Adams). Meanwhile, Will O’Connell ably plays a bellboy who is an aspiring novelist. Ohm doesn’t take this bellboy’s request to read his manuscript seriously and Ohm, instead of taking the manuscript to look at, injures the bellboy’s hand to prove a point.
David Wilmot serves as the main suspect in question when Fiona disappears without a trace. Wilmot’s Jerry is a guy who hangs around the inn/hotel and Jerry may have been responsible for his own wife’s death; hence his status as a primary suspect. Let it be said, though, that this movie sets itself up as a haunted hotel movie and something suspicious is going on within the walls of the inn that will prove to be terrifying for all involved.
Many of the later scenes in this film consist of Ohm walking around with a lantern to see where he is going. After a botched attempt to get out of his complicated situation, Ohm finds himself immersed in the mystery of the disappearance of Fiona. We find out the true situation in regard to why a particular section of the hotel is locked and the mystery unfolds in an intriguing way. There is a true culprit responsible for all this, but it’s not fair to say whether it’s a demonic or a human one…or both.
Hokum has fun with its premise, but is also pretty scary. Adam Scott is the perfect combination of annoying and intriguing as his flawed writer character comes to terms with some of the deeply disturbing mysteries going on around him within the very confines of the inn. Scott has a few good scenes with Ordesh before Fiona disappears from the action for a bit. Scott and Ordesh play off each other well and their scenes together are perfectly constructed to meet the demands of the plot twists that are revealed later on as the film’s story continues unfolding.
There are some minor problems here, however. Hokum gets bogged down in exposition and the suspense sometimes falls off track a little as the story goes back and forth in terms of creating characters who are suspected to be up to no good and developing the Scott character. One can really become immersed in the story as Scott’s character learns a bit about what is going on and must prove brave enough to escape a dire fate for himself that could occur through traps and mazes set by either the killer or the demons haunting the inn. It’s not fair to say which entity is the real enemy as this film surprises more than a few times throughout its running time.
Scott captures his writer character’s frustrations quite well throughout the many surprising plot developments the film unveils. As the Scott character makes his way through corridors and tries to stay clear of ghosts and/or a killer, Scott makes the viewer stay with him despite his character’s flaws. A lesser film could have made the author character completely unlikable, but thanks to Scott, he’s easy to sympathize with despite being a jerk at times.
Hokum has enough eerie suspense to please fans of the horror genre. Mc Carthy directs with style and precision and the film would be a nice companion piece to his earlier effort, Oddity. However, the director isn’t straying too far from the techniques that were used in Oddity with Hokum. Both of these films seem to exist in the same cinematic universe and both movies are clearly cut from the same cloth, for better or worse.
Still, Hokum shines in terms of its intense and frightening revelations and twisty plot details. For a film as dark as this one to shine, Scott had to hold that lantern he holds pretty darn well to prevent the movie from becoming too wicked and dark for its own good. Scott is ultimately the glue that holds Hokum together and he makes it worthwhile. Mc Carthy may want to try something a little different next time, however, to show he can do more than tell effectively spooky tales of terror. Mc Carthy tells these stories so well, though, audiences may not want to see his potential range as a filmmaker.
Rating: 7/10
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