by Molly Page
Hokum is a claustrophobic horror film which has a great central performance from Adam Scott and plenty of scary moments. Damian McCarthy’s third feature film was met with laughter and fear at the opening of the Fantastic Film Festival. The film follows American writer Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) who travels to an Irish Inn to scatter his parents’ ashes. While there, Ohm slowly becomes involved in a local tale about a witch who lives in the honeymoon suite, and after a sudden disappearance he ventures to find answers. As he uncovers the mystery, his childhood trauma slowly begins to haunt him further.
The film opens, unconventionally, in a desert with a conquistador and a child. The map they are using becomes stuck in a bottle and in a moment of desperation, the conquistador in an effort to break the bottle, asks the child to turn around and stay still as he raises the bottle to hit him. This is the in progress epilogue to Ohm’s current novel, as evidenced by the cross cutting between his typing and the characters actions. It immediately establishes Ohm as a character, pessimistic and cynical. Not just because he is the one imagining the ending but also because there are parts of himself in the character of the conquistador. Older Ohm is the conquistador, holding anger against his younger self for something he did in the past that haunts him. This is an early indicator of Ohm’s guilt, his perception of himself. It is pointed out again in his conversation with Alby (Will O’Connell) the bellhop, in which Ohm snarkily criticises him for resonating with his characters because they are all bad people. Thus, Ohm thinks he is a bad person, and this motivates his self-destructive behaviour. He excessively drinks and he isn’t afraid to treat those around him rudely. Even burning Alby’s hand to get him to leave the conversation.
Over the film Ohm learns to forgive himself and realises he wasn’t the bad person he thought he was. This is especially apparent in comparison to other characters. Unlike Ohm whose judgment is internal, drifter Jerry (David Wilmot) is perceived as bad outwardly by other characters for a decision made in his past. However, the audience comes to learn that this decision was in the best interest for his wife. Mal (Peter Coonan), the hotel owner’s son, however is a bad person, one who is attempting to hide his bad decisions and not take accountability, with little remorse or guilt. It is through Ohm’s interactions with these characters that inform his character arc. Going back to his novel’s epilogue he writes that the conquistador does not hit the child with the bottle but instead hands the child the bottle to hit him. The child refuses to and the two embrace, leaving the ending open but they have each other. The screen cuts to black and the credits roll. The older Ohm embracing his younger self and finally learning how to live with himself and forgive.
There are many motifs within the film that connect to this theme, one of which is the circle. The epilogue to Ohm’s novel takes place in a red circle, which is match cut to the ring of condensation from Ohm’s whisky glass, associating the two. There are also the chalk circles that protect someone from the witch. The circle can be read as symbolising different types of protection, both negative and positive. The red circle where the epilogue happens signals how Ohm thinks that in order to protect himself he needs to kill part of himself. A weakness symbolised by the child. However, the red circle becomes more of a uniting presence when it recurs at the end of the film, a way of preserving selfhood.
The ring of condensation from the whisky glass is emphasising how Ohm uses alcohol to shield or cope himself from his own guilt. The circle under the whiskey glass could also symbolise the cycle of alcohol abuse, Ohm says alcohol made his father a “monster,” until he too eventually died. Ohm’s excessive whisky drinking suggests that he has also used this as a coping mechanism not too dissimilar to his father. Furthermore, it is the spiked whiskey glass from Alby on Ohm’s first night in the hotel which leads him to attempting suicide, further continuing this cycle. On the other hand, the chalk circles are a type of spiritual protection, to keep the negative energy and spirits away. It allows Ohm to survive and see a glimpse of his mother’s ghost who tells him that the incident wasn’t his fault. Instead of being punished by the angry spirits like Mal is- rightfully- Ohm is healed and visited by protecting spirits that allow him to escape both the hotel and the guilt that had been hanging over him.
Hokum’s scariness lies in its use of darkness, sound and off-screen. The most terrifying scene involves the basement, which had the audience at the edge of their seat with the close encounters. The film does rely on many jump scares, which may not work for everyone. For me it was a little hit or miss. Some scares felt forced and contrived, like the one involving Alby holding out a lighter in the dark elevator, which is heavily shown in the trailer. However, this is pretty conventional horror film logic.
My one critique of the film is that its main antagonist was unclear. The witch felt undermined by the villainy of Mal, who was a less interesting character. There could have been a lot more witchery and Irish folklore elements for my liking, especially because that is what drew me to the film in the first place. I especially loved the design of the rabbit man, but he only really appears two times. His ties to childhood trauma, acting like a children’s mascot on the tv, had a much clearer connection to Ohm’s character progression. Clearly, Mal is a mirror character to Ohm, but his motivations felt less clear or fleshed out. Mal’s storyline with Fiona (Florence Ordesh) was more a driving force for the plot, that felt somewhat vaguely connected to the more interesting character work.
by Molly Page