A novelist visits an Irish hotel to scatter his parents’ ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch. A film by Damian McCarthy, starring Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O’Connell, Brendan Conroy, Ezra Carlisle, Mallory Adams, Sioux C, and Austin Amelio.

Written and directed by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy, Hokum is a supernatural horror film about an American novelist who visits an Irish hotel his parents once frequented. He soon learns that a witch is allegedly trapped inside the honeymoon suite.

The cast delivers convincing performances, but the main narrative is diluted by too many subplots. Between the writer’s block, childhood trauma, a fatal accident, the mushrooms, a suicide, the myth, and the witch, the film bites off more than it can chew. While these elements are somewhat connected to the main story, they end up feeling like distractions. The film is simply too cluttered, leaving several plot threads confusing and unexplained.

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@pradt

HOKUM 🐰
Some doors are meant to stay locked.
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A film by Damian McCarthy, starring Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O'Connell, Brendan Conroy, Ezra Carlisle, Mallory Adams, Sioux C, and Austin Amelio.

It’s such a letdown because the build-up is actually really compelling and kept me hooked. It always feels like something great and unexpected is right around the corner, but it just never happens.

There are also some major inconsistencies that just don’t add up. For instance, Fiona, the missing hotel staff member, turns up dead, crammed inside the honeymoon suite’s dumbwaiter (a food lift barely large enough to fit a grown adult). Her death is terrifying and looks totally unnatural, so we assume the witch did it.

But if that’s true, why was her body left behind? At the end of the movie, the witch takes another guy and his body completely disappears. If the witch wasn’t responsible for Fiona’s death, we are left completely in the dark as to what happened or how the entity actually chooses its targets.

Compared to McCarthy’s previous films, Caveat and Oddity, Hokum is the weakest entry. Despite featuring stunning cinematography that makes it visually superior to its predecessors, the narrative is held back by a predictable plot and an underwhelming ending.

That being said, McCarthy is still my favorite horror filmmaker, and his overall approach to storytelling is nothing short of a masterclass.