Hokum (Film Review)

2026 Neon
Written and Directed by: Damian McCarthy
Starring: Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O'Connell, Brendan Conroy, Austin Amelio
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 107 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 5/10

Ohm Bauman is named...Ohm Bauman. He writes dark adventure novels and lives alone in a seemingly haunted apartment. When he leaves that apartment, he's a terror to everyone who has the misfortune of crossing his path. When he decides to stay at a remote, apparently haunted and witch-infested Irish hotel to bury his parents' ashes, it's the hotel staff who has that misfortune. But apparently, there's someone at or around the hotel who is even worse than Ohm. The hotel's barista has gone missing, likely the result of foul play. Now, Ohm feels he must get to the bottom of this mystery...even if that means going to war against the hotel's more nefarious spirits.
I don't know what it is about Adam Scott. I wasn't a shrimp growing up and I generally fought back, so I rarely had to deal with the stereotypical jock bully. However, the smarmy, smart bully was always an irritation, and Adam Scott feels like everyone of those bullies who ever existed, distilled into one person. For some reason, he is incredible at playing an enormous jerk. If he is a nice guy in real life, then he is an incredible actor. However, most productions put that smarmy rudeness at the service of a villainous character. Here, Hokum presents the meanest version of Scott possible as the hero. 

It doesn't work. Scott's character, Ohm, feels like a villain who should be receiving his comeuppance. Unfortunately, the worst cinematic trope of the decade rears its head in Hokum at the service of Ohm: trauma.
That's right, every mean and awful thing Ohm does here is okay because when he was young he underwent trauma. The film isn't about Ohm learning any kind of lesson or paying any sort of penance. Ohm just has to forgive himself for something bad he did as a kid. That's it. That's the whole film. This might be a service to the character that many modern critics don't mind (for reasons I can only speculate), but it's a great disservice to the audience. That's a shame, as Hokum looks great.  

Writer and director, Damian McCarthy, may stumble on the script, but his aesthetics are immaculate. The lighting and shadow work here is masterful. It's like a throwback to a better age, which only makes the modern tropes in the script stick out even more sorely. I enjoyed the visuals for about the first half of the film, until the movie stalls and it doesn't really matter anymore. If Hokum had been made in the 80's, 90's, or early 00's, when these types of visuals were expected, the film would have likely treated Ohm as a villain, or at least forced him to reckon with his flaws and sins, to be responsible for his actions instead of  just how he needs to forgive himself. I miss those days.