Hokum – Review

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 47 minutes, Director – Damian McCarthy

American author Ohm (Adam Scott) visits an Irish hotel where his late parents had their honeymoon. However, a disappearance and tales of a witch lead him to become trapped investigating the haunted corridors.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit over the last couple of weeks about 2019’s The Hole In The Ground, Lee Cronin’s chilling Irish indie feature debut. Both with his own The Mummy being recently released in cinemas, albeit with more links to his Evil Dead film, and now the appearance of writer-director Damian McCarthy’s Hokum. The latter certainly strikes a more similar tone when it comes to the creeping claustrophobia of trippy folklore that closes in around both central character and viewer.

Successful American author Ohm (Adam Scott) travels to a secluded Irish hotel where his late parents spent their honeymoon, hoping to spread their ashes nearby. His current novel is in need of an appealing ending, and middle, causing him to arrive grumpy and often rude to staff. However, fear quickly breaks his tired and careless expression as folk tales of a witch in the locked and closed-off honeymoon suite start to seem true as he investigates the walls of the closed-for-off-season hotel when he hears of the disappearance of a staff member.

The Shining is an obvious reference, but there’s no doubt that particularly in the third act it comes to mind as the truths of the hotel are unravelled. Unravelling is truly what the mystery at the heart of Ohm’s journey is all about. Gradually unfurling with each detail, revelation and question that rise through visions and behaviours of supporting characters – not to mention an unsettling rabbit-like character who leaves a lasting effect despite only a brief appearance.

There’s a touch of 70s horror to the interactions Ohm has with locals, particularly David Wilmot’s Jerry who becomes particularly drawn into the mystery of the hotel and disappearance linked to it. Not quite a ‘turn back!’ style, instead one that’s quieter and more about the tone of the interactions and what they say about the characters, building up to their actions in the later stages of the narrative as things twist in uneasy fashion. Each decision works with the slick pacing and escalation that bring you in quickly and create initial unease that’s maintained with how rooted in folklore the film is – with many events taking place in looming woodland if not the dimness of the hotel.

Hokum strikes its tone early on and keeps that going with strong links to folklore which enhance the horror and creeping tone already established by the surroundings and how Damian McCarthy views them through Adam Scott’s increasingly haunted perspective. It builds and builds with growing creepiness and eventual suspense tracked through the mystery at the centre of the narrative. Entertainingly uneasy, it’s a great indie folk horror.

Rooted in folk tale style from start to finish, Hokum is consistently entertaining and creepy with its eerie design and visions, some of which, like the most unsettling of tales, will stay with you for a good while after.