Adam Scott Leads Irish Supernatural Horror Hokum as Release Date Set and First Look Revealed

Adam Scott is heading back into the spooky stuff. The 'Severance' star (and veteran of 'Little Evil', 'Krampus', 'Piranha 3D', and yes, 'Hellraiser: Bloodline') has a new supernatural horror movie called 'Hokum' on the way, shot in Ireland, and we finally have a date. NEON is putting it in U.S. theaters on May 1, 2026, and they just dropped the first still.

So what is 'Hokum'?

Scott plays Ohm Bauman, a reclusive horror novelist who checks into a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes. The staff starts telling him about an old witch said to haunt the honeymoon suite. That story gets under his skin, and before long he is dealing with creepy visions, a sudden disappearance, and a reckoning with some very ugly pieces of his past. Classic setup, but the kind that works if you stick the landing.

Who is behind it

Writer-director Damian McCarthy is steering this one. If the name rings a bell, his last film 'Oddity' made noise after premiering at SXSW, where it won the Midnighter audience award, then rolled out last summer. That one followed a blind medium and curio shop owner still mourning her twin; a wooden mannequin from her collection became the key to untangling a murder. Point is, McCarthy likes precision-crafted, left-field scares, which fits 'Hokum' nicely.

• Cast: Adam Scott as Ohm Bauman, with Peter Coonan ('Bad Sisters') and David Wilmot ('Bodkin').
• U.S. release: NEON is distributing in theaters on May 1, 2026.
• Companies and producers: Waypoint Entertainment's Cweature Features is aboard as a co-producer alongside Image Nation and Spooky Pictures, with Team Thrives co-financing. Producers are Roy Lee and Steven Schneider (Spooky Pictures), Derek Dauchy (Image Nation), and Tailored Film's Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, and Mairtin de Barra. Executive producers include Ben Ross, Dan Kagan, Rami Yasin, and Andrew Childs. Screen Ireland/Fis Eireann is supporting via co-production funding.
• Where it shot: On location in Ireland.
• First look: The initial image is out, teasing the tone without giving away the game.

Why this is worth an eye

Scott in a straight-up supernatural chiller is already a good hook, and McCarthy just proved he can deliver crowd-pleasing scares with 'Oddity'. Add the moody Irish setting and a witch legend tied to a honeymoon suite (great detail, inherently bad idea for a room category), and this one feels like it could be nasty in the right ways. May 2026 is a wait, but the pieces line up.