The Púca and the Cailleach: The Folklore Behind Director Damian McCarthy's Film Hokum

Adam Scott as Ohm Bauman in the Hokum movie-Neon-Courtesy of NEON Rated, LLC

A grieving novelist retreats to a remote Irish hotel to scatter his parents' ashes, only to find himself trapped in a 24-hour nightmare. Hokum premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March and was released in the United States by Neon in May 2026. Directed by Damian McCarthy (Caveat, Oddity), the film stars Adam Scott (Severance). Early reactions describe the film as so tense and full of dread that even the simple sound of a clock chiming can make viewers jump.

While Hokum pays tribute to haunted-hotel classics like The Shining, the story draws on Irish folklore passed down through generations. One of the film's influences is the Cailleach, an ancient crone figure found in Irish and Scottish mythology. Often associated with winter, storms, and the land itself, the Cailleach represents a force older than the people who encounter her, tied to time, nature, and cycles beyond human control. She is sometimes referred to as Cailleach Bheur in Scotland or Cailleach Bhéara in Ireland.

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In an interview, McCarthy stated that he also leaned into the lore of the Púca, a shape-shifting spirit that haunts rural landscapes after dark. The Púca often takes the form of a horse, rabbit, or even a mischievous shadow. It may lead travelers astray, unsettle livestock, or, if it chooses, bestow guidance or luck. Every encounter is cloaked in uncertainty; the outcome is never guaranteed.

AI-generated illustration used for editorial purposes only

These spirits rarely fit neatly into the categories of good or evil. Instead, they inhabit a shadowy realm, leaving you to wonder what is real and what is illusion. On one hand, the Puca acts much like the original, grumpy version of the Leprechaun, a solitary entity that might offer protection or a share of the harvest to those it deems worthy.

Yet, in a single heartbeat, that benevolence shifts into a darkness that mirrors the Mothman of West Virginia. Much like that winged harbinger of doom, the Puca is a creature of misty dawns and murky dusks that leaves witnesses with a deep sense of dread and hazy recollections of their encounter.

Cailleach can bring hardship, kill crops, freeze the land, and cause storms that sink ships, yet she also protects wild animals through harsh seasons, shapes the land into mountains, and maintains the cycle that makes spring meaningful, not as something that exists solely to serve or threaten humanity.

While the word Hokum implies nonsense or a harmless trick, the lore behind this witch and shapeshifting trickster suggests something more substantial. Like the Púca, the truth remains just out of sight, leaving you caught between belief and doubt.

Losing your grip on reality is perhaps the most haunting fate of all, and if that's where these spirits lead you, the nightmare has only just begun.

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