Saagar Kote
Written and directed by Damian McCarthy, ‘Hokum’ is a supernatural horror film that follows Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott), a novelist who travels to a secluded hotel in Ireland. He goes there to carry out the deeply personal mission of scattering his parents’ ashes. Hoping for solitude, he instead finds himself drawn into unsettling stories surrounding the hotel, particularly rumors of a witch that haunts it and legends tied to the surrounding woods. As Ohm spends more time at the hotel, strange occurrences begin disrupting his stay. Disturbing visions, unexplained events, and the sudden disappearance of people around him gradually blur the line between reality and imagination.
Despite repeated warnings from staff to leave before matters worsen, Ohm becomes increasingly entangled in the hotel’s dark history. Forced to confront painful aspects of his own past while navigating a growing sense of danger, he must uncover the truth behind the sinister forces at work before the mysteries of the place consume him. The unsettling tone, secretive characters, and the unpredictability of the story are reflected in this list of movies similar to ‘Hokum,’ that will be of interest to you.
8. You Are Not My Mother (2021)
‘You Are Not My Mother’ centers on Charlotte Delaney, AKA Char (Hazel Doupe), a teenager living in North Dublin with her mother, Angela Delaney (Carolyn Bracken), and grandmother, Rita Delaney (Ingrid Craigie). Just days before Halloween, Angela mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind only her car. Her sudden disappearance unsettles the family, but the mystery deepens when she returns home the following day under inexplicable circumstances. Although Angela appears physically unchanged, Char quickly becomes convinced that something is terribly wrong.
Angela’s behavior grows increasingly erratic and difficult to understand, leading Char to fear that an evil entity may be influencing her. As Halloween approaches and local folklore looms, Char embarks on a search for answers and to save her mother before it is too late. Helmed and penned by Kate Dolan, the Irish psychological horror movie is a haunting piece of art. Akin to ‘Hokum,’ it features inexplicable behavior from major characters, supernatural themes, psychological elements, claustrophobic visuals, and the desperate search for answers.
7. The Hole in the Ground (2019)
Shaped by the direction of Lee Cronin, ‘The Hole in the Ground’ is a British-Irish supernatural horror movie that follows Sarah O’Neill (Seána Kerslake) as she attempts to rebuild her life with her young son, Chris O’Neill (James Quinn Markey). Settling into a secluded home near a rural town in Northern Ireland, Sarah hopes for a fresh start, but is disrupted by a disturbing encounter and the unsettling presence of a mysterious sinkhole hidden deep within the surrounding forest. The situation grows increasingly frightening when Chris disappears into the woods one night and later returns.
Although he appears unchanged, Sarah becomes alarmed by his increasingly strange behavior and begins to question whether the boy who came back is really her son. As her fears intensify, Sarah slips into paranoia, and her grip on reality grows increasingly uncertain. Both ‘Hokum’ and ‘The Hole in the Ground’ focus on the psychological battles faced by the characters, are set within the beauty and horror of Irish culture, and feature mysteries of the woods.
6. A Dark Song (2016)
‘A Dark Song’ is the story of Sophia Howard (Catherine Walker), a grieving mother unable to accept the loss of her son years after his abduction and murder. She rents an isolated house in the Welsh countryside and hires Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram), an experienced occultist, to guide her through an elaborate ritual. Sophia and Joseph devote themselves to purifying the soul and unlocking access to unseen realms.
As the ritual progresses and strange occurrences emerge, Joseph grows increasingly suspicious of Sophia’s true motives. With both participants committed to the ritual, mounting tensions threaten their futures. The harrowing Irish-British film is crafted by the vision of Liam Gavin, who also wrote the screenplay. The strange rituals, the mysterious occurrences, the dread, and the isolation that the film portrays will remind you of the ordeal that Ohm faces in ‘Hokum.’
5. The Ritual (2017)
Based on Adam Nevill’s eponymous novel, Netflix’s ‘The Ritual’ follows four college friends — Luke (Rafe Spall), Phil (Arsher Ali), Dom (Sam Troughton), and Hutch (Robert James-Collier) — who reunite for a hiking trip in Sweden following the tragic death of their friend Rob. Their plans take a troubling turn when one of them gets injured, forcing them to abandon their route and walk through a dense forest to reach their destination. During a storm, the friends spend the night in an abandoned house, where they discover a strange figure in the attic and experience nightmares.
As they delve deeper into the wilderness, disturbing events unfold, and the group comes to believe a mysterious presence stalks them through the forest. David Bruckner steers this British psychological folk-horror movie, which is a nightmarish, deceptive, and dark ride. While ‘Hokum’ is about a single character facing unimaginable horror in a strange territory against dark forces, ‘The Ritual’ places the four friends in a similar ordeal, testing the ways in which they perceive each other.
4. The Witch (2015)
‘The Witch’ or ‘The VVitch: A New-England Folktale’ is set in 1630 New England. The supernatural film follows William (Ralph Ineson), his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), and their children, who are forced to establish a new home on the edge of a remote forest. Their fragile stability is shattered when their infant son, Samuel, mysteriously disappears. Suspicion quickly falls on Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), the family’s eldest daughter, who had been watching the child at the time of his disappearance.
Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson), Thomasin’s younger twin siblings, grow convinced that she is practicing witchcraft. With tensions escalating and uncertainty surrounding the source of their suffering, the family finds itself confronting a terrifying question about reality itself. The horror movie marks the feature directorial debut of visionary Robert Eggers, who also wrote the screenplay. The film’s focus on folk stories, secrets in the woods, troubled characters, and the intrigues of the supernatural realm connect it to the world and characters of ‘Hokum.’
3. The Hallow (2015)
‘The Hallow’ is a supernatural film that chronicles the experiences of Adam Hitchens (Joseph Mawle), a British conservationist who relocates to a remote village in Ireland with his wife, Claire Hitchens (Bojana Novakovic), and their infant son, Finn. Hoping to conduct research in a nearby forest, Adam begins exploring the surrounding woodland despite rumors of mysterious beings known as the Hallows, said to inhabit the area.
The locals caution Adam and Claire that venturing into the forest could endanger their home, particularly their child. When strange disturbances begin affecting the household, the threats grow more severe, forcing Adam and Claire to battle hostile creatures believed to dwell in the woods. Directed by Corin Hardy, the movie, akin to ‘Hokum,’ features isolated forest areas, strangers exploring a hostile territory, local legends, trouble in the woods, and difficult journeys of survival.
2. Caveat (2020)
‘Caveat’ is the tale of Isaac (Jonathan French), a drifter with partial memory loss who accepts a caretaking job. Offered the work by his former landlord, Moe Barrett (Ben Caplan), Isaac is tasked with looking after Barrett’s psychologically troubled niece, Olga (Leila Sykes), who lives alone in an abandoned house on a remote island. However, the condition is that Isaac must wear a leather harness attached to a chain that restricts his movement within the house.
After Barrett leaves them alone, Isaac finds himself increasingly isolated as Olga’s behavior becomes more erratic. He becomes caught in a tense game of cat and mouse as he uncovers disturbing secrets hidden in the house and his own forgotten past. Just as it does in ‘Hokum,’ writer-director Damian McCarthy’s creative vision shines throughout this Irish-British movie. While the film about Isaac is a commentary on human lies and behavior, the film about Ohm is about secrets that could destroy a person’s sense of self.
1. Oddity (2024)
‘Oddity’ revolves around Darcy Odello (Carolyn Bracken), a blind psychic determined to uncover the truth behind the death of her twin sister, Dani Odello. A year after Dani is killed at the remote country house, the case is resolved when the primary suspect is found dead. Darcy, however, remains convinced that there is more to the crime and goes to the country house. She crosses paths with Ted, Dani’s former spouse, who is in a new relationship. Relying on her psychic abilities, Darcy investigates the mysterious death and revisits the events of the murder.
Eventually, she uncovers unsettling discoveries that lead her to believe the truth is connected to the house. With Damian McCarthy serving as the writer and director, the Irish supernatural horror movie is an unsettling ride. Aside from being helmed by the same filmmaker, ‘Oddity’ and ‘Hokum’ also share a sense of dread and isolation that challenge their characters. Both films take place in settings that appear normal, feature secrets that could be consequential, and have darker visual flavors.
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