Vague Visages’ Hokum review contains minor spoilers. Damian McCarthy’s 2026 movie features Adam Scott, Peter Coonan and David Wilmot. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

Forget the 2026 movie Lee Cronin’s Mummy Issues; there’s another Irish filmmaker, from a bit further west, who’s been quietly crafting the most skin-crawling, nightmare-inducing, folk-tinged horror movies for years — and he’s got a helluva lot more to say about parenthood, grief and everything in between. With any luck, Hokum, starring the always welcome Adam Scott, will be Damian McCarthy’s big breakout moment. It’s the filmmaker’s widest release yet — complete with a big, Longlegs-style marketing campaign — and the purest distillation of his unique style.

Although Hokum was shot on location in West Cork, its arresting opening shot is set far from rural Ireland. A visibly exhausted father and son traipse through a desert in search of a mysterious treasure, arguing over their next move. This is actually a story crafted by Scott’s protagonist, Ohm Bauman — a crotchety novelist who tempts fate by writing in the dead of night with no lights, only pausing to take swigs of whiskey. “They were doomed,” he types solemnly, which may or may not be cheeky foreshadowing for what’s to come. Initially, Scott is shown solely in tight close-ups, emphasizing how isolated the author is in his cold, modernist compound. Indeed, before too long, Ohm spots shadows on a staircase that mysteriously disappear when he turns his desk lamp towards them.

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Ohm takes a trip to Ireland to visit the hotel where his late parents spent their honeymoon so he can finally scatter their ashes, after years of keeping them in a box with other chintzy mementos. Upon arrival, the Bilberry Woods Hotel — which is overseen by a handful of eccentric locals — leaves a lot to be desired. The décor is outdated, hallucinating goats roam the grounds and the honeymoon suite has been mysteriously sealed off. After striking up a tentative friendship with sarcastic bartender Fiona (Florence Ordesh), Ohm learns that a witch supposedly haunts the establishment and a room has been locked to prevent her escaping. But, when Fiona goes missing and the cops refuse to search the hotel, Ohm assumes she must be in the mythic room.

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McCarthy burst onto the scene in 2020 with Caveat — a weird, wild and little descent into madness with a creepy drumming bunny at its core. Then came the near-perfect Oddity (2024), which is easily one of the most terrifying horror movies in recent memory. Both films remain criminally underrated, but Hokum will hopefully get McCarthy’s inimitable work the attention it rightfully deserves. The level of craft on display is impeccable, from the detailed set design — watch out for love heart elevator lights in a honeymoon suite — to the lush cinematography from returning cinematographer Colm Hogan, who also shot Oddity.

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McCarthy understands how to stage a scare for maximum impact. There are several moments in Hokum that feel genuinely hide-behind-your-hands terrifying. There’s little respite once things get spooky, with the writer-director repeatedly forcing viewers to peer into the darkness to figure out what’s lurking there. McCarthy’s characters aren’t safe in the light either, with Hokum positing, much like Oddity, that humans are often more diabolical than evil entities like witches or ghosts. The director’s work is disquieting in the extreme, but there’s always an undercurrent of dark humor to offset some of the trauma. Irish folklore, which McCarthy repeatedly points to, is notoriously messed up, and an elderly gentleman intoning “Fadó fadó [in Éirinn]” to a couple of unsuspecting youngsters will send a shiver down the spine of those who grew up listening to these horrifying tales (the little tokens the filmmaker uses to flesh things out, while a brilliant touch, are even worse).

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In a lesser filmmaker’s hands, the story about a witch capturing kids and tearing their limbs off (while they’re still alive) would form the basis of the third act. But McCarthy, as usual, is smarter and more devious than that. He nods to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) in Oddity, so it makes sense that he would set his follow-up in the kind of hotel that’s haunted by humans and ghosts alike. As single locations go, the Bilberry Woods Hotel is a doozy, surrounded by overgrown forestland that seems to encroach closer and closer, with a single road leading to and from the property. There’s a sense that it’s better to get lost outside than in, however. Pulling from his increasingly bulging bag of tricks, McCarthy solidifies that he loves a creepy bellhop and a bell that seemingly rings all by itself, as seen in The Shining, though he utilizes these elements differently than Kubrick. McCarthy’s focus remains razor-sharp, as each second of Hokum aches with terror and malaise, and his direction is clean and striking. The sound design is eerily resonant too, as each noise — whether it’s as quiet as a pin drop or as loud as a scream — creates a forehead-dampening effect. Truly, Hokum’s rot infects every inch of the frame.

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Notably, Scott represents McCarthy’s first big-name lead. Essentially doing his “could a depressed person make this?” meme from Parks and Recreation (2009-15) for 90 minutes straight, he plays Ohm with a permanently downturned mouth and a propensity for combativeness. The outsider immediately chafes against the locals (one of whom, hilariously, calls him a “Yank” to his face), consistently sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong (and he doesn’t care either). Even when somebody acts friendly, Ohm responds with negativity. McCarthy slowly unfurls the protagonist’s backstory through creepy flashbacks, including one stomach-churning sequence involving a children’s television character pulled from the deepest depths of nightmares. And yet, through Ohm, viewers learn that not all hauntings are bad, as Scott’s character gradually finds some semblance of hope, even after toasting “to bleak endings” with Fiona. Hokum isn’t a story of redemption, but rather one about acceptance, via Saw-lite trials and tribulations.

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The great David Wilmot receives a meaty role worthy of his remarkable talents as local weirdo Jerry, while Peter Coonan, Will O’Connell and Michael Patric round out the cast as hotel employees with their own dark secrets to hide. But it’s Scott who truly impresses as a character drastically removed from practically everybody else he’s ever played onscreen (aside from a literal demon in NBC’s The Good Place). Unable to rely on his nerdy charm, Hokum’s lead actor makes his mouth as small as possible to communicate all the tension held there, almost as though he’s physically forcing himself not to smile. Ohm spends much of the movie swigging from a glass or flask, hinting at a lifetime of casual alcoholism, while his clothes, all in dark hues to match his mood, look in dire need of sprucing up even before the character plunges into a decrepit bathtub filled with god-knows-what.

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Hokum, much like Caveat and Oddity, is pure nightmare fuel. But there’s a small tinge of hope — a suggestion that forgiveness is possible — that differentiates it from McCarthy’s previous movies. It’s also his most distinctly Irish offering yet, despite the American lead. Maybe McCarthy is going soft, or perhaps the ambitious filmmaker — undoubtedly one of the most exciting voices working in horror — is lulling moviegoers into a false sense of security before his next descent into the unknown.

Joey Keogh (@JoeyLDG) is a writer from Dublin, Ireland with an unhealthy appetite for horror movies and Judge Judy. In stark contrast with every other Irish person ever, she’s straight edge. Hello to Jason Isaacs. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film reviews at Vague Visages.

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