Every October I go looking for the one horror movie everybody else somehow missed. This year I think I found it, and it's been hiding in plain sight since May. Hokum, Damian McCarthy's haunted-inn movie with Adam Scott, started streaming on Hulu in the U.S. this weekend. Outlets list the date as Oct. 9 or Oct. 10, so check Hulu's own page for the exact day on your account.
Here's why it caught my attention. The movie cost about $5 million, according to Wikipedia. It made about $24.5 million worldwide, and it holds a 90% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes as of CBR's recent report. In any normal year that's a quiet little triumph. In 2026, with Obsession and Backrooms sucking up all the oxygen, it barely made a ripple. I want to fix that a little.
A quick honest note before we go on. This isn't a review, and I'm not going to pretend it is. What follows is built from the reporting and reviews linked at the bottom, plus my own opinion about where the movie sits in this strange, great year for horror. I've kept it spoiler-free, so you can read all of it before you press play.
If you like slow, atmospheric haunted-house stories with a little dark humor, Hokum looks like exactly your kind of October. If you want nonstop jump scares, set your expectations accordingly. The reviews I found keep praising its atmosphere, its scares and Adam Scott's lead performance, and the critics' numbers are strong enough that I'd happily spend 90-odd minutes on it.
The Key Points
- Hokum is streaming on Hulu in the U.S. as of Oct. 9–10, 2026, after a theatrical run that started May 1 via Neon.
- Budget: about $5 million. Worldwide gross: about $24.5 million ($17 million domestic, $7.5 million international), per Wikipedia.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 90% Certified Fresh, per CBR and Men's Journal. It's rated R and runs about an hour and 40 minutes.
- Written and directed by Damian McCarthy, the Irish filmmaker behind Caveat (2020) and Oddity (2024).
- My take: it's one of the best-reviewed horror movies of 2026, and almost nobody is talking about it, and Halloween season is the perfect time to catch up.
When is Hokum on Hulu?
Short answer: right now, in the United States. Men's Journal reported that Hulu was streaming it as of Oct. 9, while CBR and ComingSoon had pointed to Oct. 10 earlier. Outlets disagree by a day, so I'm not going to pick a side. If you're outside the U.S., I haven't seen a confirmed streaming home, and I'd rather say that than guess.
It reached Hulu several months after it opened in theaters. Neon released it in the U.S. on May 1, 2026, after it premiered at SXSW on March 14. In other words, it's a movie that played, was admired, and then got swallowed by a very loud summer.
What is Hokum about? (No spoilers)
Ohm Bauman, played by Adam Scott, is a novelist who has hit a wall. He's stuck on how to end his latest book, and he's carrying his parents' ashes back to Ireland to scatter them. He checks into the remote inn where his parents spent their honeymoon. It's decorated for Halloween, which, in Ireland, means Samhain, and the staff has a story for him: the honeymoon suite is sealed off because a witch is supposedly trapped inside.
That's the setup, and I'll stop there. What I find most interesting, reading across reviews, is how many different genres people say it moves through. One outlet described it as shifting from murder mystery to supernatural story to psychological horror, and one user review I found called it a detective story, a black comedy and a horror movie in one. When critics reach for that many labels, it's usually because the writer-director is doing something specific and a little hard to summarize.
The cast around Scott includes David Wilmot, Peter Coonan, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O'Connell, Brendan Conroy and Austin Amelio, according to the listings I found. Colm Hogan shot it, and Joseph Bishara composed the music, per FilmBooster's credits.
Hokum's Rotten Tomatoes score and box office, by the numbers
Let's be precise about the score, because it moves. CBR reported 90% Certified Fresh, and Men's Journal's Oct. 9 piece also had 90%. Earlier in the run, outlets reported 87% to 92% as reviews were still coming in, so the figure shifted as reviews came in. The audience score was 82% in an early ScreenRant report. I couldn't confirm a current audience number, so I'm not going to give you one.
On the money side, Wikipedia lists a $6.4 million opening that landed in fifth place, then a worldwide total of $24.5 million. Some outlets round that to $25 million, and a couple of databases list slightly lower figures, so treat anything in the $23–25 million range as the same story. The budget is the part I love: about $5 million.
Here's a comparison I made myself, because I couldn't find it anywhere else. It's my math, using the totals CBR reported when it covered Hokum's streaming date.
| Movie | Budget and gross | My multiple |
|---|---|---|
| Obsession | Budget and gross$750,000 budget, about $514M worldwide | My multipleAbout 685x |
| Backrooms | Budget and gross$10M budget, about $394M worldwide | My multipleAbout 39x |
| Hokum | Budget and gross$5M budget, about $24.5M worldwide | My multipleAbout 4.9x |
Look at the last row. Almost five times the budget is a genuinely good result for a theatrical horror movie. It just happens to sit next to one of the wildest return-on-budget stories in modern Hollywood, and a movie that earns five times its cost doesn't get a victory lap when its neighbor earns 685 times.
Why I think Hokum got buried in 2026
CBR's writer put it neatly: Hokum is a top-tier horror movie that was overshadowed by Obsession and Backrooms. I agree, and I'd add a few reasons of my own. These are opinions, not proven causes.
- 1
It opened early in a very crowded year
May 1 release · $6.4M openingA $6.4 million opening that finished fifth is a quiet debut. Horror this year has been defined by explosive numbers, so a calm one doesn't make headlines.
- 2
Its hook is mood, not a viral gimmick
Slow burn · Quiet marketingBackrooms had an internet mythology and Obsession had a plot you could describe in one line. Hokum's best qualities are atmosphere and performance, and those are hard to turn into a clip.
- 3
It's an independent movie from a director who isn't a household name yet
Neon release · Irish directorMen's Journal noted it went under the radar when it hit theaters because it's an independent film. McCarthy has a loyal following from Oddity, but that audience is smaller than a YouTube-sized one.
The part that makes me hopeful is that streaming is a second chance. Plenty of movies find their audience on a couch, in October, when somebody says "I want something creepy but not gory." Hokum looks built for that moment.
Who should watch Hokum? My call by viewer type
I made this table because "is it worth watching?" depends on who's asking. The calls are mine, based on what critics keep praising and on the film's reported tone. Nobody should read them as a guarantee.
| If you are… | My call | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A haunted-house fan | My callWatch tonight | WhyCritics call it a fresh spin on the classic haunted-house story, with strong atmosphere. |
| An Adam Scott fan | My callWatch soon | WhySeveral reviews call this one of his best performances, and he's in nearly every scene. |
| A casual horror viewer | My callA great pick for October | WhyIt's R-rated but reviewers talk about tension and mood more than splatter. |
| A jump-scare lover | My callMaybe, with caution | WhyThe praise centers on dread and storytelling, so this might feel slower than you want. |
| Someone who dislikes dark humor | My callSkip or wait | WhyAt least one review I found calls it a black comedy as well as horror, so expect some humor to sit alongside the dread. |
If I had to name one group that should hurry, it's the people who loved Oddity. MovieWeb reported that film at 96% Certified Fresh on 132 reviews, and Hokum comes from the same writer-director, this time with a well-known lead. That's a fun pairing to line up on your watchlist.
Before you press play: a spoiler-free checklist
- Check the date on Hulu. Outlets reported Oct. 9 and Oct. 10, so the title may show up a little differently depending on your account.
- Plan for roughly 100 minutes. Listings vary: IMDb shows 1 hour 41 minutes, while a few other sites list a bit longer.
- It's rated R. That's the rating AllMovie lists, so this isn't a movie for younger viewers.
- Watch it after dark, with the lights low. The setting is a small, candlelit inn at Halloween, and the film seems built to be absorbed, not skimmed.
- Don't read plot summaries first. A couple of the pages I found spell out the whole story, including the ending. Stay out of them.
- Awards chatter exists, too. Wikipedia lists Fangoria Chainsaw Awards nominations for Best Wide Release, Best Lead Performance (Adam Scott), Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography, with the ceremony date given as Oct. 25.
Hokum on Hulu: questions people keep searching
Is Hokum streaming on Hulu?
Yes, in the U.S. Men's Journal reported it streaming as of Oct. 9, and ComingSoon and CBR had reported an Oct. 10 date earlier, so the exact day depends on the outlet. I haven't confirmed a streaming home outside the U.S.
What is Hokum about?
A novelist named Ohm Bauman travels to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes and learns that its honeymoon suite is said to be haunted by a witch. It's a supernatural horror story with mystery and some dark humor, and I've left the plot there on purpose.
Is Hokum worth watching?
I think so. It's Certified Fresh at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics praise McCarthy's direction and Adam Scott's performance, and it only runs about an hour and 40 minutes. The honest caveat is that it's a slow-burn mood piece, so it may not suit everyone.
What is Hokum's Rotten Tomatoes score?
90% Certified Fresh, according to CBR's recent report and Men's Journal's Oct. 9 article. Early in the run the number was lower (87% in one report) and higher (92% in another), so scores shift as reviews come in.
How much did Hokum make at the box office?
About $24.5 million worldwide on a roughly $5 million budget, per Wikipedia: $17 million in the U.S. and Canada plus $7.5 million internationally. It opened to $6.4 million and finished fifth that weekend.
Who directed Hokum, and who is in the cast?
Damian McCarthy wrote and directed it. Adam Scott plays Ohm Bauman, with David Wilmot, Peter Coonan, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O'Connell, Brendan Conroy and Austin Amelio in the cast listings.
Is Hokum rated R? Is it gory?
It's rated R, according to AllMovie. The reviews I read emphasize tension, atmosphere and storytelling, but one listing tags it with body horror, so I'd say it's not for the squeamish.
Is Hokum a good follow-up to Oddity?
It comes from the same writer-director, and the early reviews compare the two favorably. Oddity was reported at 96% Certified Fresh and Hokum at 90%, so fans of McCarthy's earlier work have good reason to be curious.
