It might just be his lengthy tenure on Parks and Recreation that’s skewing my perception, but I’ve forgotten just how good Adam Scott is at playing assholes. Then again, outside of television, his most important work to me is as Will Ferrell’s arrogant younger brother, Derek, in Step Brothers. His exchange with Ferrell about the Catalina Wine Mixer lives in my head rent-free to this day. Less memorably, he was equally smarmy in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Aviator, Black Mass, and Big Little Lies.

When we meet Scott’s character, Ohm Bauman, in Hokum, he’s writing his newest novel. It’s the final entry in his Conquistador Trilogy, a series of adventure books that never seem to end happily. We see him smile as his characters get increasingly lost in the desert, a swig of whiskey taken as they slowly die of thirst. There’s a sense of pleasure he gets from inflicting misery, an energy that initially anthropomorphizes itself into a ghoulish figure that stalks him from across the room in his darkly lit and perpetually rain-soaked house. However much he writes and profits from it, Ohm doesn’t believe in the supernatural; his response to the legends and myths is simply the titular word.

A bout of writer’s block over the ending of the novel prompts Ohm to fulfill a task that he’s long put off. He travels to Ireland to scatter his parents' ashes, specifically at the Billberry Woods Hotel, where they honeymooned many years ago. One by one, the generally pleasant Irish hospitality clashes with his entitled, brutish Americanism. Each time one of the staff members finds out his identity, they regale him with stories about the hotel being haunted by a witch who drags people to the underworld. The hotel owner believes that she’s been trapped in the honeymoon suite, which has been locked for decades, so as not to let her out.

For as much as it takes for Hokum to establish itself, writer/director Damian McCarthy successfully holds our attention through scintillating imagery and established plot points. While most lean a little too one-dimensionally, each supporting character has clear goals and motivations. Almost as if he’s on a video game quest, Ohm’s one-on-one conversations with them reveal the dark secrets of the hotel and offer hints for how the eventual proceedings will overlap.

Eventually, the kindly bartender goes missing. The whole town and surrounding woods have been searched, with no clues to her whereabouts. The only place left to look is the honeymoon suite, which the owner all too adamantly declares has never been unlocked, and that there’s no way she could be up there. Ohm and a local loner who lives in the woods, who specializes in the paranormal, Jerry, have their doubts, so they decide to take matters into their own hands. On the night the hotel has been closed for the season, the pair steal the key and venture into the dark and dusty room.

From here, Hokum becomes one of the creepiest films of recent memory. McCarthy yet again slows things way down, gradually upping the ante through impeccable craftsmanship. Our eyes are attracted to the few pools of light, with evil lurking in the space between them and the darkness. Was that a woman that Ohm saw, or just his nerves playing a trick? We ask ourselves the same question, that is, until McCarthy unravels what’s been going on. Unfortunately for Ohm and us, he’s a very slow walker who gets easily startled, which means there are plenty of opportunities for jump scares.

I had no expectations that Hokum would reinvent the horror genre, specifically its occult and folk horror subgenres. I was correct in my assumption, yet this film still ranks as one of the best in its class. It’s old school terror delivered through assured filmmaking, anchored by a sturdy lead performance. I arrived home after the movie and dared not look into any dark room, as my imagination had been corrupted. A feeling like that is when you know you’ve seen a truly scary movie.

This review was originally published from a screening at the 2026 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. Neon will release Hokum in theaters nationwide on May 01st.