May 14, 2026 1:18pm IST
‘Hokum’ Review: Adam Scott-Starrer Tries Conjuring Up Scares, But Leaves You With Nothing
We traipse into Ohm Bauman’s imagination way before we follow him into the dark recesses of the Bilberry Woods Hotel, where he lands up as he prepares to scatter his parents’ ashes.
A stranger in a small town is usually unwelcome and Ohm (Adam Scott) clearly isn’t there to make friends either. He’s up to some shady shenanigans and by the looks of it, so are the staff of the Hotel and the few guests and townspeople he encounters.
He is quickly drawn to a cordoned-off honeymoon suite that’s off-bounds to everyone except the owner of the property. And one reckons nobody told him it was a bad idea to go around poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Because he does.
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But before he does, he decides to end things, in a matter of speaking. He is saved by the hotel’s bartender Fiona (Florence Ordesh) in the nick of time and recovers quickly as well. Informed that his saviour has gone missing in the days since, he decides to go sleuthing. He is informed that the last person to see her is a homeless lurker named Jerry (David Wilmot). He accosts Jerry who tells him Fiona may already be dead.
Did she venture into the suite? Did she fall foul of someone's devious designs? Ohm just has to know. And so begins his suite surrender of sorts.
Damian McCarthy, with films like “Oddity” and “Caveat” to his name, brings expectations that fans of his brand of folk horror might like. Much of “Hokum” relies on jump-scares and some great sound editing and mixing to keep you spooked. Everything from visages leaping out of pitch-black darkness to someone peering just behind Adam’s shoulder is just too tiring to look at.
McCarthy’s writing, too, feels labored, betraying a slow burn that probably could’ve been done without. It bogs down the general pacing of the film, with the high-points coming in places easy to miss. We get that the real monsters aren’t hiding in basements, but within oneself, but even then it’s a tad blah the way the exposition happens. While the part where the reason behind Ohm’s eternal guilt is revealed, it comes a little too late in the film, long after you’ve exhausted your quota for giving a f**k.
Adam Scott as Ohm is so deadpan he might as well be comatose in this. It’s almost as if any main character energy – even the overarching guilt or fear – is swallowed whole by the void that is his emotionless face even in scenes that demand him to emote, even a wee bit. And this is the person who’s supposed to be carrying your film.
Call it a creative call if you like, but when every supporting character makes a bit of effort to at least stick out in memory, espec (and does!), you just have to ask if director and lead actor did enough. Should’ve just “read the room.” Ordesh, in her brief appearance as Fiona, makes more of an impact, even in death. And that’s saying something. Editing could’ve been a lot better as could the rather underwhelming background score.
“Hokum” is just what the title implies. And if that was the intention, well done. Mission accomplished!
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