Hokum checks Adam Scott into an Irish hotel where grief, writer’s block, and a witch story refuse to stay in separate rooms. Written and directed by Damian McCarthy, the 107-minute horror film follows novelist Ohm Bauman as he travels to scatter his parents’ ashes and walks into a disappearance that drags his own past back into view.
THE HOKUM FILE
Hokum opened May 1, 2026, with Scott leading a cast that includes Austin Amelio, David Wilmot, Peter Coonan, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O’Connell, Brendan Conroy, Mallory Adams, and Ezra Carlisle. NEON’s home-release listing gives the film a 107-minute runtime and an R rating. The setup is direct: an American writer arrives at a remote Irish hotel, hears that a witch haunts the honeymoon suite, and begins seeing things the building would rather keep to itself.
OHM BAUMAN’S BAD CHECK-IN
Ohm isn’t visiting Ireland for a clean vacation. He has come to scatter his parents’ ashes while carrying the kind of unfinished family history that makes a haunted hotel especially dangerous. The official synopsis says tales of the witch consume him, disturbing visions follow, and a disappearance forces him toward the darker parts of his past. That gives McCarthy two pressure points to work with: whatever is moving through the hotel and whatever Ohm brought through the door.
The honeymoon-suite hook sounds simple because it is simple. Its value is the immediate collision between a room built for celebration and a guest arriving with ashes. McCarthy doesn’t need a mythology lecture to establish the threat. A hotel story already comes with temporary rooms, unfamiliar corridors, and the suspicion that everybody else knows more than the person holding the key.
DAMIAN MCCARTHY RETURNS TO CONFINED SPACES
McCarthy wrote and directed Hokum after Caveat and Oddity, two films that made enclosed locations feel hostile before anything supernatural entered the frame. The hotel gives him a larger building, but the dramatic machinery stays tight: one compromised lead, a place with rules he doesn’t understand, and objects or stories that can’t be dismissed as decoration. McCarthy has said he deliberately avoided repeating scenes and scares from The Shining, the comparison any horror filmmaker inherits the moment a troubled writer enters a remote hotel.
WHO IS IN HOKUM?
- Adam Scott as novelist Ohm Bauman
- Austin Amelio
- David Wilmot
- Peter Coonan
- Florence Ordesh
- Michael Patric
- Will O’Connell
- Brendan Conroy
- Mallory Adams
- Ezra Carlisle
The cast list comes from the film’s official and classification materials. Character details beyond Ohm are kept light here to preserve the hotel’s turns for first-time viewers.
RUNTIME, RATING, AND CONTENT ADVICE
Hokum runs 107 minutes. NEON’s physical-release listing marks it Rated R, while the BBFC flags strong horror, violence, language, and suicide references for the UK release. Viewers sensitive to those subjects should check the full classification guidance before watching; it contains plot spoilers, so approach it after deciding how much advance detail you want.
HOW TO WATCH HOKUM
The official Hokum site maintains a showtime search, and NEON currently lists a 4K UHD and Blu-ray edition for pre-order. The disc extras include a making-of feature, a Damian McCarthy commentary, a short titled “Jack the Donkey, A Family Favorite,” and the teaser and trailer. The BBFC has also classified the feature for physical media and VOD or streaming. Exact services and dates vary by country, so verify the listing shown in your market before paying.