Hokum

Hokum (2026) takes place at a hotel in rural Ireland. The author Ohm Bauman arrives at the Bilberry Woods Hotel to scatter his parents' ashes. The hotel has a honeymoon suite said to be haunted and there is a local story about a witch. He becomes rather too interested in both. Damian McCarthy wrote and directed. He comes from low budget Irish horror and his method is the same here: sound, empty space and what is kept outside the frame, rather than digital effects. Adam Scott leads, and having an actor from comedy at the centre sets the film's register. Peter Coonan, David Wilmot and Austin Amelio are alongside him. It was shot in County Cork in Ireland in February and March 2025. It premiered at SXSW on 14 March 2026 and opened in the United States on 1 May 2026 through Neon. Made for five million dollars, it grossed 24.5 million worldwide, which is the economics of small budget horror still working. It runs 108 minutes. Good for: haunted house horror, folklore driven dread, and atmosphere built out of silence. Less good for: the film accumulates its fear slowly and the first half offers nothing to anyone waiting for a jump. Some of its rules are left unexplained. The ambiguity of the ending will not satisfy everyone.