Adam Scott Is Horror's Most Underrated Final Boy
Adam Scott has finally returned to the horror genre with Hokum (2026), a creepy haunted tale set in the rural Irish countryside. While Scott is best known for his turns in comedies like Parks and Recreation (2009) or character dramas like Big Little Lies (2015), he’s also quietly a terrific figure in horror. The genre was among his earliest roles, and it’s a tenor he revisited in the surreal scares of Severance (2022) more recently, although it’s rare to see the actor fully approach the genre.
That’s what makes Hokum so effective. The film, which casts Scott as an anti-social author who finds himself hunted in a haunted hotel, is able to use his comedic and dramatic chops to great effect while still highlighting what makes him so effective as a horror actor. In fact, the skills that make Scott such a good performer in other genres help inform his take on Ohm in Hokum, resulting in one of the actor’s best-ever performances. Here’s why.
Adam Scott’s Comedy Skills Translate Well To Horror
Scott’s performance in Hokum is a quickly engaging take on the “bitter writer” archetype, a somber figure with just a dash of Jack Torrance from The Shining (1980) to make the audience guess his eventual arc. Gradually, the film lets the actor delve into Ohm’s mentality, unearthing a surprisingly moral core and a deep well of regret. Scott plays the dramatic and dark comedic moments well, but he’s also great in the scenes where Ohm is hiding from a witch or trying to avoid a murderer.
The actor brings a certain liveliness to the performance that helps elevate him above the archetype. As a veteran of comedy films and shows, Scott has a great sense of timing that translates well to scary movies—knowing when to make the audience sympathize with Ohm, as well as when to make him cruel, pitiable, or noble. The actor did something similar in Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Piranha 3D (2010), and especially Krampus (2015), finding the correct balance of playing the comedy for big laughs without losing sight of the character arc that keeps the audience engaged. It’s exactly what he does in Hokum, and the movie is better for it.
Adam Scott Is Also Really Good At Playing Villains
While Adam Scott might be most famous for his comedy roles, he’s also proven to be a good villain when the movie or show calls for it. Scott has spoken in interviews, such as with Deadline on the red carpet for Hokum, about how much fun he had playing Ohm’s harsher side, which some audiences can forget the actor has in his arsenal. It’s an important part of the film’s construction, as it allows the audience to bristle against Ohm and accept some horrifying things happening to him. There’s a blunt snarkiness to the early scenes of the film with Ohm that underscores that side of the character, which Scott clearly has a blast playing.
It’s not too dissimilar from his work in Step Brothers (2008), where Scott played the comically arrogant Derek opposite Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Scott has been open in interviews with outlets like Screen Rant that he would be interested in returning to that kind of character, openly comparing it to his more friendly performances in comedies like Parks and Recreation. Scott’s turn in Hokum highlights how good the actor is at playing a jerk, opening up the door for him to eventually take center stage as a horror movie villain akin to Hugh Grant’s turn in Heretic (2024).
Adam Scott Should Be In More Horror Movies Like ‘Hokum’
Adam Scott does great work in Hokum, honing the talents he’s been refining in Severance and using them to great effect. Similar to Hokum, Severance is a show that benefits from a wild tonal flexibility, capable of being unsettling in one scene before becoming heartbreaking, hilarious, or harrowing in another. Scott has proven to be an ideal star for the show, with his versatility as an actor helping sell many of those tonal swings. It doesn’t work without someone in that kind of role who can shift so easily from being detestable to sympathetic to inspiring.
It’s the same kind of range that makes for a good horror actor. They need to be able to lull the characters (and audience) into a false state of calm before revealing their true selves, then have the commitment to take the horror to the extreme. Scott has those talents down to a tee and would make for a fantastic survivor in a horror story or the central threat within one.
He could be the charming false lead who turns out to be the killer, the dogged and resilient survivor of an attack, or he could even play the jerk who gets killed early to establish the stakes. Especially after Hokum highlighted how well he fits into the genre, Adam Scott should do more horror.
