Hokum

'Hokum' is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Damian McCarthy. It is a co-production between Italy and the United Arab Emirates, which is being released in the United States on May 1, 2026 after a successful run at the South X Southwest film festival.

The film stars actor Adam Scott, who plays the writer Ohm Bauman, who is experiencing a moment of creative block, unable to finish the epilogue of his popular novel trilogy Conquistador. Exhausted, one day he believes he sees the ghost of his mother at home, so he decides to travel to a remote rural Irish hotel where his parents had their honeymoon to scatter her ashes there and try to find inspiration.

There he finds a town with a gloomy atmosphere and mysterious residents, who speak of Celtic legends or children kidnapped in the underworld. After the disappearance of a waitress, Ohm begins to have visions while investigating his past and that of his family. It is then that not only the spells begin to surface, but the trauma that he himself has tried to bury for years.

The cast of 'Hokum' is rounded out by Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh and Michael Patrick, among others. Filmed in the Irish county of Cork, the film has been enthusiastically received by critics, highlighting how the director makes use of folklore to create a terrifying atmosphere.

• Horror