By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Damian McCarthy
Starring: Adam Scott | Austin Amelio | David Wilmot | Mallory Adams | Peter Coonan
Year: 2026
Running time: 107
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35672862
Peter says: “It’s a familiar story: A grieving, cynical novelist retreats to remote lodgings, only to become ensnared in a violent, supernatural spook session. With strong shades of 1408 and THE SHINING – even lifting an overhead car shot in homage to the latter – Damian McCarthy’s HOKUM is a beautifully shot, effectively creepy genre exercise that ultimately doesn’t ‘say’ much on its own.
“Adam Scott plays Ohm Bauman, who travels to Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes. But he isn’t exactly a nice guy; at one point, he goes so far as to burn a bellhop’s hand with a hot spoon just for asking for an autograph. It was hard to root for him, despite how much I usually enjoy Adam Scott’s screen presence in things like Severance. The film pushes the ‘asshole’ part of the ‘lovable asshole’ trope just a bit too far.
“The real star here is the atmosphere. Much like Zach Cregger’s Airbnb-ruining Barbarian, there are some truly creepy secrets hidden within this quaint Irish motel. While the ‘lore’ is kept to a minimum and the story never quite clicked for me, if you have ‘scaredy-cat’ friends, they’ll be clutching their armrests through most of this.
“3 out of 5 Cats 😺
Eliza says: “HOKUM, from director Damien Mc Carthy (ODDITY, 2024), centers on Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott), a cynical horror writer. He travels to a quaint hotel in Ireland, the last place he knew his parents to be truly happy, to spread their ashes. His name, Ohm, is an electrical term used for measuring resistance within a circuit. This was fitting, as Ohm was resistant in opening his mind to beliefs outside of his own. Through a bit of drink-tampering he was unaware of, Ohm gains the ability to see beyond his normal scope.
“As a horror writer, Ohm was no stranger to fear. We learn throughout the film about his own traumas that have shaped him so dramatically, that one would almost question how he’s still standing.
“There is a symbolism in the goats causing a ruckus in the hotel parking lot. They’re very stubborn creatures as is, but once they get hold of the mushrooms in the forest, they’re attracted to the shine reflecting off cars. They keep climbing the cars to look at themselves, described as being narcissists. This imagery reminds me of the Caravaggio painting ‘Narcissus’ with a young man gazing lovingly into the water at his own reflection. In reality, the poor goats might believe they’re looking at water. Instead, they’re culled for their stubbornness. It’s also unsettling in a way for Ohm, I’d assume, because of his complete refusal to look at himself. The goats are dreadful reminders.
“The camera work was eerie and dread-inducing, which captivated me up until the end. Near the end of the movie, a goat skull cameo appears in the desert, and I liked the imagery it added to the film-version of the scene in his book.
“Beginning with an acquaintance at the hotel coming up missing.. and with further betrayals, ghastly local legends and the revelations surrounding those.. including his own brush with the forest mushrooms.. Ohm is able to see through a new lens that may act as a salve for his own wounds.
“HOKUM acted as a good palette cleanser for me, after having watched several emotionally heavy screenings. I throughly enjoyed the film. 4 cats”