Hokum
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“The Wicked Are Punished”: Damian McCarthy on Hokum
Damian McCarthy knows how to scare an audience. At the Hokum premiere at SXSW, screams and giggles filled the theater as festivalgoers jumped in their seats and covered their eyes watching McCarthy’s tightly wound trap spring out at them—sometimes literally—on the screen. The Irish writer-director describes his films as “classic ghost stories,” campfire tales designed to have you searching for faces in the shadows all the way home. They’re elemental, they’re impeccably crafted, and they’re a lot of fun. Hokum is McCarthy’s third feature, and the first time he has worked with a major actor—Adam Scott, who stars as an […]
by Katie Rife on Apr 30, 2026 -
A Guide to SXSW 2026, From Penis Enlargements to Pagan Mall Employees
Filmmaker is heading to the 40th edition of SXSW, where myself and several talented contributors will be on the ground filing interviews and dispatches from various corners of Austin’s city limits. This year’s lineup is massive—with 119 feature films alone—and we happily assume the daunting role of covering buzzy world premieres and hidden gems alike. Speaking of world premieres, there’s an expected emphasis on genre fare among this year’s crop. Irish low-budget maverick Damian McCarthy scales up with Hokum, a folk-tinged rental house horror that provokes chills through its trailer alone. This releases via Neon just two and a half […]
by Natalia Keogan on Mar 12, 2026
