In Hokum writer director, Damian McCarthy, teams up with Severance’s Adam Scott to weave a claustrophobic tale of ancient, folk horror set against the backdrop of rural Ireland.
We follow Ohm Bauman, a published fantasy author struggling to confidently cap off an extremely popular trilogy of books. Having seemingly never seen The Shining, he’s come across the pond to a remote hotel in the hope of getting the final chapter just right (though whether that’s of the book or of his life remains to be seen).
‘Long, long ago, deep in the woods, there was an old stone hut. And in that stone hut there lived an old Cailleach. A witch.’
Ohm hasn’t come alone, though. He’s brought the urns of his parents along for the ride, to spread their ashes at the site of their honeymoon, his hotel the same as theirs many years ago. Eerily, the very same honeymoon suite they stayed in has been barred off for some time, and there are all manner of dark rumours about what might have happened there.
As premises go, there’s a familiar twang to Hokum’s set-up on paper, but I never once felt that was an issue while the film itself played out. I’m always game for some folk horror, being very interested in these old mythologies myself. McCarthy manages to strike that feeling of unease and of dubious surroundings that you’d want to find in a film like this. Irish folklore has all kinds of beasties you could play on for this kind of story, but an old sage warning two children about ancient tales of a witch just as Ohm steps through the door into the hotel works well as a statement of intent for the rest of the film’s proceedings.
That initial promise (and the film’s excellent trailers) had me ready to dive into something really spooky, so I was rather disappointed to find that the story moved somewhat slowly for the film’s first half, instead concerning itself with more typical concepts that didn’t really stoke the same interest in me.
The idea of misconceptions playing on your mind and of reality falling short of your expectations is pretty baked into Hokum as an experience, as Ohm’s psyche deteriorates further, trying to figure out what’s really happening at the hotel, but I was hoping that the film would lean more into the outright horror of the setting and the premise, playing up the story’s supernatural elements.
Luckily, Scott manages to keep things interesting through the slight lull in the story, playing Ohm as a clever yet utterly cynical writer, spurning the compliments of an overly zealous fan and pushing back against the down-to-earth Fiona (played charmingly by Florence Odesh). It’s a hard to get the measure right when making an unlikeable protagonist, especially in a genre like horror where so much of the stakes depend on the audience caring about your characters and hoping they survive the ordeal, but by the time things start to go really south for Ohm, I did just feel worried for him.
The second and third acts of Hokum take things up a notch, the action playing into just how small and cramped this little inn really is. The tangibility of this location – well established ahead of the scares – also lends itself to the tension here, and some of its best moments echo the film adaptation of The Woman in Black, which (for all its faults) really nailed the haunted house atmosphere.
Similarly to that film, Hokum doesn’t have a flawless record in terms of scare factor – there are a few cheaper moments and beats in amongst the lot – but there are some nicely chosen moments to be found, and I did jump out my seat. I would have liked a little more in the way of properly effective scares – I’d class this as more of a claustrophobic thriller than an outright horror story – but I found myself enjoying Hokum more and more as the film went on.
Given that the opposite is usually true – plenty of films lately have started off strong and weakened over their runtime – Hokum was overall a fun, if not stellar, surprise.
BBFC: Rated 15 for strong horror, violence, language, suicide references.
Hokum is in cinemas now.
