Hokum
Dazzling and Flashy as a Rose that Wilts too Soon
The horror genre, as a whole, has been doing well lately, and Hokum has arrived in theaters to claim the mantle of next buzzy indie horror favorite. In a world where an underdog like Weapons could win an acting Oscar, anything is possible, right?
Well, the set-up for Hokum is great. A writer (Adam Scott) with a deeply troubled past goes to a hotel in Ireland for some closure. He soon gets an eerie sense of “something wrong” with the hotel; it seems it might be haunted. Unfortunately, the movie takes too many sudden left and right turns, including an out-of-place murder plot. I will say that writer-director Damian McCarthy has a few really great surprises up his sleeve in this movie. Certain moments were so rich with potential that I do look forward to seeing another movie from him. I think everyone will agree that the standout ghoul in this movie is one by the name of “Jack”, who throws unexpected chaos into the whole movie. Sometimes the movie veers off in too many unexpected ways, like a character whose arc is cut too short by a crossbow to the head.
One of the segments of the movie that is sure to be the most divisive are the prologue and epilogue. These take place outside the events of the main story but tell us something about the way we tell stories. Like I said, I wasn’t uber-scared or satisfied by Hokum, but I am very excited to see what McCarthy does next.