‘Hokum’ Review: Adam Scott Is Scary Good in Low-Key, Stephen King–Esque Horror Stunner
“Hokum,” the haunting new horror gem from writer-director Damian McCarthy, is a ghost story that sneaks up on you in the best possible way. It’s also a witch story, a haunted hotel story and a story about how humanity can be the most horrifying force in the world, all woven together with potent technical craft.
It’s not only properly unsettling, making great use of darkness and sound, but also becomes a quietly poetic reflection on loss when you least expect it. Critically, this is not yet another heavy-handed horror film about trauma, as McCarthy executes everything with a lighter touch, never once overplaying his hand or over-explaining the film to us. Instead, the Irish filmmaker treats the folk-horror elements with refreshingly matter-of-fact, darkly comedic yet still melancholic care, all while providing room for Adam Scott to give one of his best performances to date.
This all opens with a revealing glimpse into the imagination of a writer: the troubled novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott), who is trying to figure out how to end his story about a man and a boy lost in a desert where death may be their only way out. He’s typing away with a drink always within reach, a slight smirk almost etched on his face, the rain pouring down outside, and his empty house nearly swallowed by shadows.
This bleak void, both that of the story and of his life, is where he has made himself at home, though something already seems to be lurking in the darkness. When he glances up, he sees a figure that appears to be watching him from afar. When he tries to look closer into the void, both in this moment and throughout the film that follows, he finds something inescapably painful staring back at him that he’ll have to confront.
After this spellbinding, almost wordless opening scene, Ohm decides — or at least is driven by something — to go to a remote Irish hotel that was a special place for his late parents. He’s there to scatter their ashes, with the eventual bleakly comedic scene of him doing so revealing his distinct yet fraught relationships with both of them, while also forcing him to look back on his own past. An overwhelming agony awaits him there, reaching a point where it all proves too much and very nearly consumes him.
He’s saved by a kindly bartender, Fiona (Florence Ordesh), who not only tells him of the mysterious honeymoon suite in the hotel that nobody is allowed into, but also brings him back to the world of the living he seemed to have written off. They also discuss the ending of his story, and she pointedly challenges him on whether what he sees as a courageous conclusion is actually him letting himself off the hook. When Fiona then disappears, Ohm launches into trying to find her, just as most others in the hotel seem to prefer she stay missing.
The resulting experience is a low-key horror triumph, with both incredible technical craft and the same eerie emotional power as a great Stephen King story. It’s as entertaining as it is evocative, with each new look into the darkness inviting you to stay a while longer just to see what might emerge from it next. Though similarly confined as McCarthy’s also-strong past films, “Caveat” and “Oddity,” were, “Hokum” proves to be his most confident, captivating and ultimately crushing work yet. Whether in the brief glimpses we get into the past that provide devastating context to what initially felt like a bitter throwaway line uttered in the clutches of inebriation, or in one sinister children’s television program that torments Ohm midway through the film, it hits home in surprising ways.
Everything from the meticulous production design by Til Frohlich to the rich cinematography by Colm Hogan gives this film added weight, immersing you in the many gloomy corners of the hotel. Each detail makes the rooms—and what lies beneath—feel boundless even as they are suffocating. When Ohm must take a further plunge into the depths of the hotel in the hopes of finding a way out of this nightmare, his journey becomes one not just about survival. Instead, he’s searching for something closer to existential salvation in the pits of despair where he spends most of the film trapped. Sometimes, you have to descend into the abyss of darkness to emerge into the light.
This is a lot to handle, but Scott rises to the occasion at every turn with a subtle yet shattering performance, just as the film descends into the depths of Ohm’s soul. He is simply outstanding in how he carries his character’s emotional weight while also finding moments of humor in the horror. He’s capable of showing just how cruel Ohm can be, never once shying away from how the pain the writer carries has hardened into a callous armor he uses to shield himself from everyone around him.
When shown small kindnesses by characters throughout the film, Ohm begins to see that there are still people who care for him and possibly hope for him, too. The film, thankfully, doesn’t hold our hand through this, instead leaving it to Scott to capture this measured yet moving transformation with understated care. Just as the writer opens his mind to the possibilities of something beyond our understanding hiding in the hotel, we see how he is beginning to consider that his life might not be so bleak after all.
There is much that remains wonderfully beguiling in the film, and plenty of moments that rattle you to your core that won’t be spoiled here. What can be said is that the way both Ohm and McCarthy find their respective endings proves deeply meaningful. It’s a meaning that may require you to look more closely into the film’s darkness, but you’ll find a profoundly terrifying and ultimately moving vision awaiting you there.
“Hokum” opens exclusively in theaters on May 1.
The post ‘Hokum’ Review: Adam Scott Is Scary Good in Low-Key, Stephen King–Esque Horror Stunner appeared first on TheWrap.