The indie “if you know, you know” era of Damian McCarthy is officially over—he’s hitting the horror big leagues. After traumatizing us with Caveat and the award-winning Oddity, McCarthy is back with Hokum. And it looks like a total nightmare. The first official poster has arrived. It’s filled with faces and darkness that leave you wanting to get lost in it. It’s unnerving as hell.
The Big Names Behind the Screams
McCarthy isn’t flying solo for his NEON debut. Roy Lee (It, The Ring) and Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity) are lending their genre expertise as producers.
Leading the descent into madness is Adam Scott (Severance), who is no stranger to the strange. Scott is joined by a stellar cast of character actors like Peter Coonan (The Alienist), Austin Amelio (The Walking Dead), David Wilmot (Station Eleven), and Will O’Connell (Game of Thrones).
A Honeymoon Suite from Hell
Scott stars as Ohm Bauman, a reclusive (and admittedly “jerk-ish”) horror novelist who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes. But instead of finding closure, he finds local legends about an ancient witch haunting the inn.
Naturally, curiosity (and a bit too much Scotch) gets the better of him. However, following a shocking disappearance, Ohm is forced into a nightmarish confrontation with the darkest corners of his own past. Check out the new kaleidoscopic poster to see Scott mirrored amid distorted faces and eerie red motifs—a clear sign that his identity is about to be the next thing on the chopping block.
Why the Hype is Real
Early reviews out of its SXSW 2026 premiere are calling it “gratuitously frightening” and a “perfectly designed haunted dollhouse.” McCarthy is reportedly leaning away from cheap jump scares in favor of looming, “magical” dread that rewards viewers who pay attention to the shadows. Hokum checks into theaters on May 1, 2026.
