Rotten Tomatoes 90%, beats 'Backrooms': The horror film Neon chose

Om, a bestselling author who travels to a remote hotel in Ireland to lay his late parents' ashes to rest at their honeymoon destination, finds himself confronted by visions and strange occurrences at the property. The hotel harbors a sealed room, said to have been locked away because of a witch who dragged people underground. Tracking a missing hotel employee, Om ultimately opens the room — and comes face to face with an inexplicable presence as a horrifying truth unfolds before him. That is the premise of "Hokum."

"Hokum," which opened at Lotte Cinema locations nationwide on July 22, invites comparisons to "Backrooms" — director Kane Parsons' global blockbuster this year — in its use of a single inescapable hotel suite as the stage for claustrophobic dread. The film is the latest work from director Damian McCarthy, who built a distinctive occult horror universe with "Caveat" (2020) and "Oddity" (2024).

Adam Scott, who won the Academy Award for best actor for "Severance," plays the lead role of Om, deepening the psychological tension that keeps audiences gripped. Scott renders with precision the inner collapse of a cold, guarded man slowly undone by the truth he uncovers.

What stands out most is the viscerally realistic direction that conveys the terror of a sealed space. Irish actors David Wilmot, Florence Odesy and Peter Coonan join Scott in the cast, bringing to life characters who feel genuinely rooted in that landscape, and the production used an actual country estate in southwest Ireland as its primary location. Only the suite and elevator — where live shooting was not possible — were recreated as sets, built with painstaking fidelity to the real spaces they replicate. Scott, who spent time on that set, later recalled it was the most unsettling room he had ever been in, adding that even the smell felt real.

Sound is another of the film's weapons. McCarthy identified sound design as a cornerstone of the finished horror experience during production, hinting that audiences would find themselves wanting to cover their ears rather than close their eyes as the scariest moments approached. Everyday noises — a ticking clock, an alarm, the creak of an old hotel door — gradually transform into instruments of dread. Composer Joseph Bishara, known for the "Insidious" and "Conjuring" franchises, amplifies the immersion with abrasive string textures and dissonant chords that set nerves on edge.

The film draws additional attention as a title chosen by Neon, the distributor that has brought works by major Korean filmmakers — including "Parasite" (2019) and "No Way Out" (2025) — to North America. Neon is also the North American distribution partner for director Na Hong-jin's "Hope," which opened last month.

"Hokum" has already posted a $6.4 million opening-weekend score in North America, and its cumulative worldwide gross has surpassed $23 million, placing it among Neon's notable releases. Its Rotten Tomatoes freshness score stands at 90 percent.

"Hokum" also ranked second on Variety's top 10 horror films of the first half of 2026, edging out "Backrooms," which came in at No. 10. Variety called it "a classic haunted-house thriller" and said it delivers "a roller-coaster thrill ride, with clever jump scares hidden throughout."