I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.
Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh
Critics Consensus: 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.
| Critics | Score | Number of Reviews | Average Rating (Unofficial) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Critics | 91% | 56 | 7.60/10 |
| Top Critics | 93% | 15 |
Metacritic: 81 (13 Reviews)
Sample Reviews:
Billie Walker, Little White Lies 2/5 – Despite the heavy metaphors and emotionally weighted hauntings, there’s nothing new here – it’s all painfully dull and familiar horror territory.
Bob Strauss, San Francisco Chronicle 4/4 – It’s frightening how “Hokum” moves from murder mystery to supernatural shenanigans and then to psychological horror with such confidence. It’s exhilarating as well.
Kristen Lopez, The Film Maven C+ – Hokum is a very effective throwback to haunted house stories of old. Scott and the small cast are solid, though it's the sound mix and production design that really unnerve.
Perri Nemiroff, Perri Nemiroff (YouTube) 4/5 – An atmospheric & soulful haunt. McCarthy delivers an eerie tale of a haunted hotel, but is more focused on peeling back the layers of his lead. Between his chilling frames & Scott's spot-on work, Hokum succeeds as both a great scare and character piece.
Nick Schager, The Daily Beast – This creepy nerve-rattler confirms that the director’s excellent 2024 breakout Oddity was no fluke.
Rocco T. Thompson, Slant Magazine 2.5/4 – Damian McCarthy threads the needle between supplying old-school scares and a richly layered character piece that also functions as a meditation on his own perspective as a storyteller.
Anton Bitel, Sight & Sound – Amid all the creepy grotesquerie and black comedy, McCarthy tells a human story that is more than mere hokum.
Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com 3.5/4 – 'Hokum’ isn’t a slow burn, but one of its strengths is how it slides in and out of shocking images and dread-filled atmosphere.
Kristy Puchko, Mashable – The scares in Hokum had me howling, jumping, and desperate to cover my eyes.
Monica Castillo, The Playlist – A What could have easily been an overstuffed confluence of ideas – a haunted house, a ghost, a witch, a murder, oh my! – comes together so effectively because of McCarthy’s masterful command of what scares audiences.
Robert Daniels, Screen International – An engagingly frigid performance by [Adam] Scott furthers the film’s keen ability to conjure overwhelming anxiety from its many punchy jump scares, combining to make Hokum an exceptionally chilling horror film.
Katie Rife, IndieWire B+ – It’s just a good old-fashioned ghost story, the kind you’d tell over a campfire to scare children. And it’s a hair-raising one at that.
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter – While it’s a little low on scares, Hokum is pacey and involving enough to keep genre fiends watching once it hits streaming, just for production designer Til Frohlich’s creepy hotel set alone, a place that looks untouched by the passing years.
Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting 4.5/5 – Damian McCarthy continues his streak for folkloric tales of supernatural karma and spine-tingling terror with a dark sense of humor. It's really freaking scary.
Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap – It’s not only properly unsettling, making great use of darkness and sound, but also becomes a quietly poetic reflection on loss when you least expect it.
SYNOPSIS:
When novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott) retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance forces him to confront dark corners of his past.
CAST:
- Adam Scott as Ohm Bauman
DIRECTED BY: Damian McCarthy
SCREENPLAY BY: Damian McCarthy
PRODUCED BY: Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Derek Dauchy, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, Mairtín de Barra
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Terence Chan, Andrew Childs, Jeff Deutchman, Ryan Friscia, Dan Kagan, Ken Kao, Bryan Meng, Evan O'Brien, Keith Potter, Tom Quinn, Josh Rosenbaum, Ben Ross, Rami Yasin
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Colm Hogan
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Til Frohlich
EDITED BY: Brian Philip Davis
COSTUME DESIGNER: Lara Campbell
MUSIC BY: Joseph Bishara
CASTING BY: Emma Gunnery
RUNTIME: 107 Minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2026
by chanma50
7 Comments
Trailer for this looked good. Hope it’s a small hit.
Amazing Director, hopefully even goes out and supports, all of his past films are good, that’s saying a lot considering they’re cheap horror films, but different from most horror films
Saw this at the mystery movie last week. It’s solid. A few cliches but a solid enough story with some pretty scary moments
Saw it at south by Southwest. Like all of his films, it is extremely terrifying with some of the best scares and jump scares I’ve seen.
Like all of them, I think it is lacking in the story/character department. Nothing egregious or terrible, it’s all pretty solid stuff, but it never quite matches the atmosphere and tension.
A reviewer I follow, said it best: the story largely feels like a set up for scares.
If you love atmosphere, tension, creepy ass, imagery, and very good jump scares, it’s a good ride. But the story is pretty thin.
81 on meta critic is the same as weapons, obviously it will settle lower but a good starting point!
I saw this film here in France last friday and i loved if. Solid 8/10. I dont know why but the construction. Of the movie reminds me of old résident evil game. The direction and the acting are pretty solid.
So many solid new movies coming out, it’s fun to see!