Hokum (2026)

Plot of Hokum: Ohm Bauman is a successful American author who goes to a hotel in rural Ireland to scatter his parent’s ashes. It is the place where they had spent their honeymoon. He is a grumpy man, who is recognised by at least one of the staff, who is an aspiring author. The barmaid, Fiona tells him where a photo featuring his mother was taken and off he goes to the woods, where he meets Jerry, a tramp. Jerry shares some poteen (moonshine) with Ohm.  Later Fiona had found Ohm’s tape recorder on the bar, and in an effort to return it, breaks into his room to find he had hanged himself. She cuts him down and he survives after a spell in hospital. We know that the honeymoon suite, where probably Ohm’s parents spent their time is shut down and locked. But on returning to the hotel after his spell in hospital Ohm finds that Fiona is missing, and that Jerry thinks she in in the honeymoon suite. But Mal, the son of the owner and manager of the hotel accuses Jerry of murder. The bell connected to the honeymoon suite keeps ringing, and somewhere in the mix is a cross bow which has been wielded by Fergal the groundsman, to kill a goat. Ohm agrees to go with Jerry and break into the honeymoon suite where all will, they hope, be revealed.

Content: No sex or nudity. Jerry claims to drink milk laced with magic mushrooms, and hallucinogens have a place in various events which take place. Both legal and illegal alcohol features. We are unsure whether some of the things Ohm sees are supernatural or the result of him unknowingly taking drugs. When Ohm enters, he sees the owner Cob, the owner of the hotel, telling two children a tale about a witch dragging captives in chains through the underworld. Pay attention to this. Over the duration of the film we gradually find out that Ohm, as a boy, had accidentally killed his mother with his father’s hand gun. He still feels guilty. Ohm makes it to the honeymoon suite, and finds the solution to Fiona’s disappearance and well as a dumb waiter which leads him into the basement. At the beginning and the end of the film the end of Ohm’s latest novel is enacted, which seems to involve a Spanish conquistador.

A View: This film got good reviews, although I always have a bit of a suspicion about films which are written and then directed by the writer. They are never self-critical. In this case, having illustrated that Ohm is a grumpy introvert, he then chats to the barmaid and makes friends with Jerry, within hours of his arrival in the hotel. With a different director these sort of problems would be solved. And as usual in a horror film the walls of the hotel are painted red. But nevertheless, an effective oppressive atmosphere is maintained throughout. If you are a horror buff this outing is well worth the cost of a ticket.

Fun Fact: Adam Scott spent three weeks filming alone in the honeymoon suite, which he said was emotionally demanding.