Aarcflick

 Damian McCarthy’s third feature film refines the Irish writer-director’s horror style into something sharp and terrifying. Jump scares often get a bad rap. It is true that they can be a lazy device—a crutch for directors who lack the skill to build tension through more ambitious structural means. But when paired with solid filmmaking, a good jump scare can transform a movie—one that might otherwise be merely good—into a dizzying, thrilling experience that leaves us gasping in awe; and that is exactly what Irish writer-director Damian McCarthy achieves with *Hokum*. Director: Damian Mc Carthy Writer: Damian Mc Carthy Stars: Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot McCarthy’s previous film, *Oddity* (2024), featured the most terrifying scene of that year: a sequence involving a flashlight, a tent, and a thunderous bang on the door of an isolated farmhouse in the dead of night. And while it is barely March, *Hokum* is almost certainly already shaping up to be a strong contender for tha...