Hokum Haunts With Secrets, Shadows and Guilt

Hokum

★ ★ ★ ½

Hokum is a horror film about Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott), a successful author battling the demons of his past. He sips bourbon as he writes a bleak ending to a book series in his small, dark, concrete-style home while the rain paints water streaks down his windows. He also sees things in the shadows.

Ohm travels to the fictional Bilberry Woods Hotel in West Cork, Ireland, to scatter his parents’ ashes. He has a photo of his mom by a distinct-looking tree near the hotel. He carefully scatters her ashes around the tree. He’s much less reverent with his dad’s. It’s an unspoken moment in the film that speaks volumes about the character—something this film does very well.

Ohm is a jerk. He’s a stereotypical borderline-alcoholic writer with a massive chip on his shoulder. He’s mean and sarcastic to the staff. Ohm heats a spoon over a candle and burns the hand of bellhop Alby (Will O’Connell) when he tells Ohm he’s also an aspiring writer.

Adam Scott as Ohm Bauman
© 2026 NEON

He chats up Fiona (Florence Ordesh), the bartender, and tells her the ending to his book. She finds it sad and dreary. It’s not something she’d read, knowing the ending. There’s something about Fiona that seems to crack Ohm’s shell a bit. She’s kind and good-natured, and he seems to take her opinion on literature somewhat seriously.

Later, long after Ohm has retired to his room, Fiona gets a feeling that something’s wrong. She gets Alby to open his door to find Ohm hanging from a noose. Fiona and Alby save Ohm. He wakes up in the hospital weeks later, learning that Fiona saved him.

He returns to the hotel to thank her but learns she disappeared after a recent Halloween party. The hotel is closing for the season, and Ohm is advised to return home. Ohm feels the overwhelming need to find out what happened to Fiona.

Also, there’s a witch that haunts the hotel. The owner has supposedly trapped it in the honeymoon suite, which is locked behind a gate. No one is ever to enter the suite. Of course, that’s where Ohm suspects Fiona might be.

Hokum carefully gives up its secrets over time, building tension and intrigue along the way. The movie doesn’t completely change Ohm into a good person, but he certainly won’t be the same if he survives the hotel’s supernatural terrors.

Adam Scott as Ohm Bauman
© 2026 NEON

The horror in this movie is mostly psychological even though there are real dangers lurking in the shadows. It’s a character study of a man trying to reconcile his guilt from a childhood tragedy. There are secrets in the hotel’s basement that echo the horror of Ohm’s past.

The more Ohm tries to uncover what happened to Fiona, the more his hardened shell seems to crack. He becomes more human and we discover he might have a heart after all.

The final act feels rushed, glossing over the hotel’s secrets. Who the witch is remains a mystery, and the secrets in the basement aren’t explained. It throws the pacing off, too eager to present a conclusion.

Still, it’s a well-done horror film. It’s moody and dark, tense and disturbing. Scott turns in a dark, complex performance. Even when we despise his actions, we still kind of root for him. A word to the wise: if you’re at a hotel in Ireland and find yourself in a suite with a dumbwaiter that only goes to the basement, don’t hit the call button.