phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2026

Hokum



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2026
Runtime: 1h 47m
Country: Ireland, UAE
Language: English
Genre Tags: Horror, Thriller
Plot Summary: A horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Just watch this movie without reading anything further about it, possibly even this. I read a review that called it a "haunter," and I have no better description. It's not a ghost story, it's not quite 100% folk horror, it's not a straight thriller... But it's also kind of all of those? It's well-written, well-acted, well-directed, character-driven, often funny, always dreadfully creepy. You will enjoy being scared by it.


Outside Reviews:

Brian Tallerico
3.5 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

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.


Matthew Jackson
Grade: B+ - Hokum is another impish, haunting delight from Damian McCarthy

It's through these idiosyncratic details, his lead actor, and his ability to meld creeping atmosphere and jack-in-the-box terror, that Damian McCarthy's voice comes through in Hokum. Like his previous films, it still feels intimate and disquieting, yet now expands to the point that it strains its 107-minute runtime; the film's greatest sin might be that there's not more space to explore its many dark corners. The maker of indie horror chamber pieces has broadened out into epic carnival rides packed with invention and emotion, without losing his personal touch.