‘Hokum’ Ending, Explained: What's The Deal With The Conquistador?

Hokum (2026) is a movie that is the definition of an acquired taste. It’s a horror movie that spends the majority of its runtime in a single room and fills that room with a palpable sense of dread and unease. The honeymoon suite of the Bilberry Hills Hotel almost feels like it belongs in Silent Hill (2006), as the longer Adam Scott’s Ohm Bauman stays in the room, the more it judges him and his past sins. It’s a folklore-infused, slow-burn horror film that prioritizes silence over action, and while some horror fans may balk at that, others will eat that up.

In fact, thanks to its recent premiere on Hulu and Halloween being right around the corner, more and more people are discovering this creepy little film, to the point that it hit #1 on the streaming charts. But its cerebral approach to horror can be a bit confusing, and that’s especially evident in the film’s ending, which involves a character called the Conquistador who only appears one other time in the film’s 108-minute runtime. Who exactly is he, how does he fit into the film’s ending, and why does his inclusion help brighten an otherwise dark movie?

What Happened in the Ending of ‘Hokum’?

Psychological horror films are no stranger to misery, but Hokum is in a league of its own. Everything about the film is morbid, and it’s all thanks to Ohm.

Ohm spends most of the film coming to grips with how he was unintentionally responsible for murdering his mom and the guilt he harbors for it, going so far as to lay her ashes to rest at the Bilberry, where she honeymooned with his father decades ago, before eventually attempting suicide. It fails, but when he returns and learns that the hotel bartender, Fiona, has gone missing, he enters the honeymoon suite at the suggestion of her friend Jerry. It doesn’t take long for Ohm to learn that not only is she dead, but that Mal, the hotel clerk, was responsible for it, leaving her to die at the hands of the witch trapped in the hotel’s basement. 

Thanks to some quick thinking on Ohm’s part, and Jerry’s interrogation of Mal, he’s eventually captured by the witch and left to die as the hotel burns down. While Ohm is the only survivor, he comes out of it for the better and accepts that he killed his mother, theorizing that his supernatural experiences in the honeymoon may have been a result of a drug trip. And with that, Ohm begins to chip away at something he had been trying to do for the entire film: finish the ending of his book.

What Was the Meaning of the Conquistador in ‘Hokum’?

A unique aspect of Hokum is how it's bookended by a scene involving a man known only as the Conquistador, wandering the desert with a young child in search of something. While we may not know what he’s searching for, we know exactly why he’s there. 

Ohm is an author, and a fairly well-known one at that. His Conquistador trilogy is famous enough that people at the hotel are eager to talk to him and ask him how he’s going to finish the series. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have an ending, or at least one he’s satisfied with. In his original ending, the one we see at the beginning of the film, the Conquistador, unable to open a bottle with a map, orders his young companion to turn around as he attempts to break the bottle open against his head, but fails. It’s violent and dark, but something about it dissatisfies Ohm.

In a way, Ohm is the Conquistador. He’s a man who internalizes all of his self-loathing and unleashes it on others. Much like how the Conquistador harms the young boy, Ohm frequently throws snide remarks and even physical harm at others for the crime of interacting with him. In his original ending, the Conquistador is left to die, which lines up with Ohm’s own attempted suicide. He internalizes all of his angst through the Conquistador and his actions, intentionally writing him as someone who will never receive a happy ending. But then something weird happens. Ohm becomes more hopeful.

Does ‘Hokum’ Have a Happy Ending?

After his experiences at the Bilberry, Ohm tries again to write the Conquistador’s ending, but this time, he gives it a happy ending. Or at the very least, a hopeful ending. 

Instead of the Conquistador fruitlessly bludgeoning his young companion to death, he asks him to break the bottle on his head, tacitly acknowledging Ohm’s own desire for punishment and offering his life for the betterment of someone without as much guilt or baggage. But his companion doesn’t do it. He refuses to strike him and instead hugs him. In a way, this ending is powerful for two reasons. First, it’s Ohm acknowledging that people care about him and that he doesn’t have a desire to harm himself any longer. But, more importantly, it’s his way of honoring Fiona. 

While Ohm was an absolute ass to Fiona, she did show genuine concern for him. She was the one who found him after he attempted to kill himself and, during his brief time at the Bilberry, she kept him company and helped him in his goal of laying his mother’s ashes to rest. When Ohm was describing his grim ending, Fiona bluntly told him that she didn’t like it and that she would prefer a happier one. Now, in honor of how she helped him, he’s giving his character the happy ending Fiona never got. Ohm has grown as a person, and instead of being a bitter man with a needless grudge against the world, he’s ready to close that dark chapter of his life and move on to something better.