Halloween in Ireland-set film Hokum started streaming on Hulu and Disney+ on October 10, 2026 for subscribers. The psychological supernatural witch folk horror thriller had its world premiere at SXSW on March 14-15 in Austin, Texas. It hit digital platforms on June 2, 2026, followed by a physical 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray combo pack and DVD release on August 11, 2026.
SYNOPSIS: "A horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch."
STORYLINE: "When Ohm Bauman, a horror novelist, retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance force him to confront the dark corners of his past." —NEON Rated
Written and directed by Damian McCarthy (Oddity, Caveat). It stars Adam Scott (“Severance”), Peter Coonan (“The Alienist: Angel of Darkness”), David Wilmot (“Station Eleven”), Florence Ordesh (“Departure”), Michael Patric (“Frontier”), Will O’Connell (“Game of Thrones”), Brendan Conroy (“Bodkin”), and Austin Amelio (“The Walking Dead”).
Teaser:
Official Trailer:
Final Trailer:
TV Spot:
First Terrifying Scare Movie Clip:
Witch Encounter Movie Clip:
Jack the Donkey Jackass Kids Show Movie Clip:
Ending Movie Clip:
Interview Adam Scott - “Hokum” | The Daily Show:
Interview Podcast Director Damian McCarthy on Irish Folklore and Horror:
![HOKUM (2026) Director Damian McCarthy on Irish Folklore and Horror [Interview Podcast]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zlBTcqet3Mw/hqdefault.jpg)
Soundtrack: ''I’m Going Home'' by Cork Sacred Harp Singers:
Soundtrack: Something in the Walls [Original Lyric Music Video]:
![Hokum Movie OST 2026 - Something in the Walls [Original Lyric Music Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j5G-oIUDQTI/hqdefault.jpg)
Official 4K UHD + Blu-ray cover:
Jack-O's Review: "Well made super scary and creepy film with a few jump scares that got me. Takes place on Halloween in Ireland in an Irish hotel with glowing pumpkin jack-o-lanterns everywhere around the building and one character in a bunny costume. Let's get a full movie with Jack the Donkey Jackass! It's a mix of the horror author in a hotel scares like 1408, the dread and creepiness of The Shinning, the mystery and scary hotel in The Innkeepers, and it also has the eeriness of the director's previous film Oddity. I really loved it, maybe the best Halloween horror movie of the year!" ★★★★ @trickhorrortreater
Reviews:
"The director of one of the best horror films of the 2020s, “Oddity,” has returned with a new haunter that traffics in similar themes but never feels like a retread of that film’s spectral ground. Yes, the excellent “Hokum” also plays with folk horror and the idea that real-world violence can unearth a supernatural reckoning, but it firmly stands on its own. Damian McCarthy’s first project with Neon checks so many personal boxes, using largely a single setting to tell a story that seems inspired by touchstones like “The Shining” and “The Innocents,” but also affirms its writer/director as one of the most interesting voices in the genre today. If “Caveat” and “Oddity” were indicators of a strong future by their creator, “Hokum” is the fulfillment of that promise... Adam Scott does his best film work to date as a famous horror writer named Ohm Bauman, a lead who seems to be modeled on Stephen King, or at least one of his many troubled author protagonists... it feels like there’s something truly special in McCarthy’s work, a classical sense of the genre that somehow never feels dated. He doesn’t present something overly familiar as much as build on a foundation to present something terrifyingly new, blending his love of folk history with a rich sense of character, space, and nearly biblical justice. The title of his latest feels almost like a challenge to those who would dismiss ghost stories as little more than fables shared around an Irish fireplace. Tales of Irish witches have been told for generations not just to scare people but because they tap into something true. “Hokum” rises above so many films like it because it takes its character’s plight seriously, never winking at the audience, even as the impossible happens. Dismiss the folk tales at your own peril." ★★★½ RogerEbert.com
"On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 199 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website’s consensus reads: 'A classic haunted house story enriched with atmospheric folklore and perfectly-timed shocks, Hokum further solidifies writer-director Damian McCarthy as a modern master of horror.' For fuck’s sake... I don’t know. In no way was this movie for me. It just meanders endlessly, feeling entirely like it’s trying way too hard to be the kind of pretentious indie feature that gets passed around film circles as 'groundbreaking.' Or maybe modern horror just completely misses the mark for me, and you’re actually going to love it. At the end of the day, I like Adam Scott on his podcasts, so take that as my half-sandwich of a review." BandSAboutMovies.com
"Adam Scott stars as Ohm Bauman, a successful author struggling to conclude his conquistador book series that seems destined to end in bleakness... Hokum‘s setting and acerbic author call Stephen King to mind, 1408 and The Shining specifically, in that the supernatural causes its protagonist to confront their issues in a baptism by unholy fire... Damian McCarthy excels at defying expectations, also reflected in the way that every supporting player surprises: first impressions are very deceptive here. It’s also reflected in Hokum‘s narrative structure. McCarthy is unhurried in doling out details and uninterested in handholding. The Irish, at least in Hokum, simply accept the existence of folkloric entities like the witch. How she got there isn’t as important as the fact that she’s there and for good. Those hoping for an expansion of lore will likely come away disappointed, but that’s not what’s important to this story. Hokum so thoroughly invests you in Ohm’s off-kilter quest, one that keeps raising new intrigues and questions, and in a way that’s not easily predicted. The full scope of terror takes a while to arrive for the sake of building anticipation, such nail-biting anticipation that explodes in a folkloric freakout, yet it still holds you firmly in its grip. McCarthy dangles close to the precipice of bleakness, but ultimately rewards with a magical story about storytelling and the ability to heal. Hokum just also happens to be really freaking scary. But, as Jerry explains to Ohm, you have to be open to it." ★★★★½ Bloody-Disgusting.com
"McCarthy is reliant on jump scares to rattle viewers, which isn’t welcome, but there’s more to “Hokum” than cheap shocks. There’s care with cinematography (credited to Colm Hogan, who shot “Oddity”) and sound design, and Ohm becomes a rat in a maze, navigating unfamiliar places as he tries to make his way into the honeymoon suite. McCarthy embraces the fear of open spaces and claustrophobic ones, and Scott is game to play up the character’s agitation as he battles to find a way out. That “Hokum” actually has an ending is a relief, and it’s a reasonably good one, creating a payoff that’s worth reaching. The real strength of the feature is in the build-up, with Ohm and the messiness of his mind suddenly surrounded by folklore and horrors, forced to deal with himself and others to make sense of this challenge to his very existence." ★★★½ Blu-ray.com
"Although “Hokum” maintains a much faster pace than “Caveat” and “Oddity,” viewers who weren’t synched to the speed of those films may find themselves similarly halted here. Admirers of those movies, on the other hand, have an opposite experience in store as Damian McCarthy takes the lessons learned on those outings to dial up “Hokum’s” horror even higher. Covered in a macabre mood, “Hokum” has more than mere atmosphere to offer as it evolves into a self-contained creeper that’s quickly cementing McCarthy as a master of effective, artistic, and unsettling eeriness." Review Score: 75 CultureCrypt.com
"An elegant, unsettling blend of grief, folklore, and supernatural horror, Hokum proves that Damian McCarthy remains one of the finest atmospheric filmmakers working today. Patient, intelligent, and wonderfully haunting, this is exactly the kind of ghost story that lingers long after the lights come back on." 9 Out of 10 Witchy Cloven Hooves GrumpyGoatsCabinet.wordpress.com
"Hokum is a film that respects the audience - it's smart, it's tense, it builds its story, it's gives you characters worth caring about, and doesn’t rely on cheap tricks to keep your attention. I really liked Hokum a lot." HorrorMovieLists.com
"Scene after scene balances a funhouse vibe with Irish folktale spookiness, and the vintage horror beauty of every frame beguiles you. Caviat offered quietly claustrophobic terror. Oddity delivered clever, melancholy horror. Hokum feels more polished yet more old school. It is perhaps less terrifying than Mc Carthy’s previous features, but it’s a haunting good time." ★★★★ MaddWolf.com
"Hokum feels more substantial than McCarthy’s previous efforts. All of the filmmaker’s signature obsessions are present and accounted for, but there’s a more personal, impactful story that exists marginal to them, unfolding within the man at its center. This can make Hokum’s guiding enigmas, its ominous dumbwaiters and uncanny donkey men, feel a bit random and undernourished, but the film’s emotional climax is a powerful one. The film boldly realizes Ohm’s struggle with himself through his fiction as depicted in bookended sequences lifted from his manuscript, and where his creative vision begins and what it develops into is a profound depiction of the power of art to bury or rescue the one who creates it. It may be too pat to call Ohm a proxy for the filmmaker, but with Hokum, McCarthy declares who he is as a creative, coalescing his love of knotty narratives and cursed bric-a-brac around a guiding theme that resonates: In the absence of supernatural entities to reset the moral arc of the universe, we mortal beings must write ourselves out of our own bad endings." ★★★ SlantMagazine.com
"So scary! This movie scared me on more than one occasion. The jump scares never felt cheesy or filler. Each one complimented the eerie overall tone of the film so well. I had goosebumps on my skin the entire time and felt like I was losing my mind in the best way possible. This movie reminded me a lot of Oddity (from the same writer and director) mixed with 1408. If you enjoy hotel horror flicks, there is a lot here for you to enjoy. It may be a while before I go down into my basement and I highly recommend investing in some chalk!... Even though this was a horror movie, I really enjoyed the elements of mystery within it. It really drew me in and I found myself wanting to know more with each clue presented, which ended up turning into quite the insane ride! Wow… I also thought Adam Scott did a great job here with a note-worthy performance... Hokum is a thought-provoking horror film that unleashes some frightening moments upon its audience, reeling us into an unhinged nightmare worth exploring. This film exceeded my expectations! I’m not sure that I’ll be sleeping for a while though…" TVFanatic.blog
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