Trailer Roundup: May Brings New Horror To Theaters With SXSW Films ‘Obsession’ and ‘Hokum’
One man lives (but for how long?) with the consequences of having his wish come true, and second is menaced by an unspeakable evil in a remote Irish village in two new trailers for horror films hitting SXSW next week and theaters this May.
Obsession, distributed by Focus Features, and Hokum, which comes to us from Neon, both issued teaser trailers back in December, and both dropped all new, full-length trailers on Wednesday that give more details than the teasers, which were more vibes than story.
Directed by Curry Barker, Obsession stars Michael Johnston as Bear, who asks a vintage wish-granting toy called a ‘One Wish Willow’ to make his unrequited crush Nikki (Inde Navarrette) fall for him. It works…too well, and soon he’s wishing he hadn’t stolen her free will to use for his own selfish desires.
In the trailer, we see Bear at a party. Nikki gazes at him, deep in the throes of his love spell. “I love you so, so, so, so much,” she says dazedly. “The love only the branch of a willow could conjure.” One of their friends jokingly asks Bear what kind of spell he put on her, and everyone except Bear laughs a little. Nikki also laughs, and laughs, and laughs long after everyone else has stopped.
The rest of the cast includes Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter. This is Barker’s directorial debut, and he wrote the script. He’s best known as one of the creators of the “That’s a Bad Idea” YouTube channel and as the director of the short film “Milk & Serial”. Jason Blum of Blumhouse is serving as executive producer.

Obsession will be screened at SXSW in Austin next week, then debut in theaters on May 15th.
Adam Scott stars in Hokum, a folk horror tale set in an inn in a remote village in Ireland, one where his parents honeymooned long ago.
The movie’s description reads, “when reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott) retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind. Soon, disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance draw him into a nightmarish confrontation with the darkest corners of his past.”
In the trailer, we see Ohm wandering around the nearly-deserted inn, lantern in hand, taking in the eeriness of it all. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” he says in voiceover, “but there are some oddballs around this place.” Later we see one of the guests telling him, “there are worse things than strangers out there.” As if to illustrate his point, we see a dodgy-looking man menacing Ohm, and then the inn’s proprietor tells him that one of the members of staff is missing, and that the honeymoon suite is ALWAYS locked.
Hokum was directed by Damian McCarthy (Oddity, Caveat) for Neon and also stars David Wilmot, Austin Amelio, Florence Ordesh, and Peter Coonan.

Hokum will also play SXSW, which begins on March 14th, and then open in theaters on May 1st.


