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Hoax (2018) movie poster

Characters & Themes

Hoax (2018) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
2018 · 83 mins · Indonesian
Echo score 56
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Directed by
Ifa Isfansyah
Starring
Tara Basro, Aulia Sarah, Vino G. Bastian, Jajang C. Noer, Permata Sari Harahap, Landung Simatupang

Following a Ramadan dinner, this provocative film explores the secrets and lies within a seemingly traditional family. It focuses on three siblings—Ragil, Ade, and Raga—as their night unfolds with shocking revelations. Ragil cares for his aging father while hiding a secret relationship. Ade endures a distressing experience while traveling home, and Raga confronts a pregnancy scare complicated by the unexpected arrival of a former girlfriend. The film delves into themes of infidelity, hidden desires, and the fragility of family bonds, questioning conventional values.

On this page (8)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Characters explained (14)
  3. 3 Where & when it takes place
  4. 4 Themes & meaning (3)
  5. 5 Character & meaning questions
  6. 6 Movie threads
  7. 7 Movies like Hoax
  8. 8 Every angle
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14 main characters · contains spoilers

Hoax Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of Hoax (2018), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Rick Paxton

    An ambitious film producer who pushes to turn the Mountaineering Massacre into a sensational Bigfoot hunt for higher ratings. He aggressively pursues proof, often at the cost of his team's safety and ethical boundaries. His willingness to manipulate evidence reveals a ruthless focus on success over truth.

    • 🎭 Drama
    • 🧠 Obsession
    • 🔬 Experimentation
  • Roger Brannan

    A former employer turned executive who demands concrete proof before backing a reality-bending project. He steers the narrative by insisting on verifiable results, creating tension with Paxton when moral lines are crossed. His calculated stance keeps the project tethered to a business reality rather than pure fantasy.

    • 🎭 Drama
    • 🧠 Leadership
    • 🧪 Strategy
  • Danny

    Paxton's assistant, loyal yet practical under pressure. He navigates dangerous terrain and unexpected threats, contributing to the crew's survival while witnessing the moral erosion around him.

    • 🎭 Drama
    • 🧭 Loyalty
    • 🔧 Resourcefulness
  • Justin

    The cameraman whose role is to document the expedition. He becomes a casualty in the escalating danger, highlighting the fragility of those who capture truth on the front lines.

    • 🎭 Drama
    • 🧭 Courage
    • 📷 Documentation
  • Brigette

    A social media vlogger whose presence amplifies the hunt for Bigfoot. Her panic and injuries underscore the spectacle-driven dynamic of the mission and foreshadow the peril of chasing viral fame.

    • 🎭 Drama
    • 📱 Social Media
    • 🌀 Paranoia
  • Dr. Ellen

    A primate specialist who joins the expedition, providing scientific insight while confronting the inexplicable threats. She becomes a source of rational analysis in a situation that quickly spirals beyond explanation.

    • 🧠 Science
    • 🧭 Reason
    • 🔬 Exploration
  • Jonesy

    The helicopter pilot who helps move the team and supplies, disturbing the fragile balance between safety and risk in the wilderness.

    • ✈️ Adventure
    • 🧭 Risk
    • 🗺️ Navigation
  • Ike

    The bulldog that accompanies the crew, serving as a symbol of loyalty and a reminder of the crew's vulnerability in a hostile environment.

    • 🐶 Companionship
    • 🛡️ Protection
    • 🧸 Sentiment
  • Peter

    A Sasquatch expert who pushes the team toward using pheromones to lure the creature, and whose expertise becomes a fatal liability when the plan goes awry.

    • 🔬 Science
    • 🕵️‍♂️ Investigation
    • 🧪 Experimentation
  • Cooper

    The missing Alex Barnes's father, who joins the expedition seeking answers. His determination to uncover the truth leads him into danger as the mystery deepens.

    • 🧭 Search
    • 🛡️ Protectiveness
    • 🧩 Mystery
  • Charlotte

    An older woman who turns out to be part of a cannibalistic family masquerading as monsters. She orchestrates horrific acts to misdirect investigators and protect her secret.

    • 🧪 Deception
    • 🧭 Morality
    • 🗝️ Secrets
  • Luc

    Charlotte's son, one of the two violent siblings who revel in the family’s brutal ritual. He embodies the brutal, unpredictable danger hiding in plain sight.

    • 🗡️ Violence
    • 🧩 Danger
    • 🎭 Deception
  • Gage

    Charlotte's other son, a volatile figure who dances with the dead and ultimately contributes to the final acts of murder. His cruelty underscores the film's brutal tonal shift.

    • 🎭 Cruelty
    • 🧭 Instability
    • 🔥 Intensity
  • Alex Barnes

    The missing party member whose fate becomes a driving force for the investigation and the antagonists' deception. The quest to locate Alex fuels the crew's perilous journey.

    • 🧭 Missing person
    • 🕵️ Investigation
    • 🧩 Mystery

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 07:56

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Setting

Where and When Does Hoax Take Place?

The setting of Hoax (2018): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

Modern day

The events take place in contemporary times, evidenced by gear like trail cameras, satellite phones, and social media presence. The use of modern technology frames the investigation as a media-driven pursuit as much as a survival ordeal. The timeline feels current, with characters operating in real-time under webcams, drones, and online scrutiny.

Location

Remote wilderness camp in the mountains, secluded cabin in the woods

The story unfolds in a harsh, forested wilderness where a group of campers are attacked. The action centers around a remote camp and eventually a hidden cabin, deep in the woods where danger hides among trees. The isolation of the terrain amplifies fear, making survival and the hunt for truth central to the plot.

  • ❄️ Wilderness
  • 🕵️‍♂️ Mystery

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 07:56

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3 major themes

Hoax Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is Hoax (2018) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Deception

    The narrative hinges on who is telling the truth and who is fabricating a story for gain. Characters manipulate evidence and motives to control the audience and the outcome. The film questions the reliability of witnesses and the limits of perception under stress. What seems like a monster hunt gradually reveals layers of calculated deceit.

  • Media Manipulation

    There is a clear tension between sensationalism and reality as the massacre is reframed for ratings. The pursuit of a compelling narrative drives decisions, often at the expense of ethics and safety. The film critiques how media ecosystems can fuel fear and obscure truth. The Bigfoot premise becomes a tool for profit rather than a genuine inquiry.

  • Survival

    Survivalism drives character choices as resources dwindle and danger closes in. The wilderness becomes a crucible where alliances fracture and primal instincts surface. Physical threats coexist with moral hazards, testing what individuals will do to endure. The environment is as much a character as the people within it.

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 07:56

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Character & theme questions

Hoax Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about Hoax (2018): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where does the movie take place?

The film is set in a remote wilderness area in the mountains, centered around a secluded camp and a hidden cabin deep within the dense woods. This isolated forest location becomes a character itself, amplifying the fear and survival elements as danger lurks among the trees.

  • mountains
  • wilderness
  • cabin
  • forest
  • remote location
Q2

What are the main themes explored in the movie?

The film explores three interconnected themes: Deception, where characters manipulate evidence and truth for personal gain; Media Manipulation, critiquing how sensationalism drives content even at ethical costs; and Survival, as the harsh wilderness tests characters' moral limits when resources dwindle and danger closes in.

  • deception
  • media manipulation
  • survival
  • truth
  • sensationalism
Q3

Who is Rick Paxton and what is his role?

Rick Paxton is an ambitious film producer driving the expedition. He pushes to turn the Mountaineering Massacre into a sensational Bigfoot hunt for higher ratings, often prioritizing proof and spectacle over his team's safety and ethical boundaries.

  • rick paxton
  • producer
  • bigfoot hunt
  • ambition
Q4

Who are the antagonists in the movie?

The antagonists are Charlotte and her two sons, Luc and Gage, who masquerade as monsters in the woods. They are part of a cannibalistic family who orchestrate horrific acts to misdirect investigators and protect their secret, representing the shift from mythic beast to human evil.

  • charlotte
  • luc gage
  • cannibal family
  • antagonists
Q5

Why is the wilderness setting significant?

The isolated wilderness serves as both a physical and psychological battleground. It amplifies fear through claustrophobic terrain, forces characters into survival mode as resources disappear, and creates a perfect backdrop for the investigation that becomes a life-or-death ordeal.

  • wilderness
  • isolation
  • survival
  • environment
  • nature
Q6

When is the movie set?

The film takes place in modern day, evidenced by characters using trail cameras, satellite phones, drones, and social media. The technology frames the investigation as both a media-driven pursuit and a real-time survival situation under constant online scrutiny.

  • modern day
  • contemporary
  • technology
  • real-time
Q7

What does the movie say about media and truth?

Hoax critiques how media ecosystems fuel fear and obscure truth. The Bigfoot premise becomes a tool for profit rather than genuine inquiry, as the pursuit of compelling narrative drives decisions at the expense of ethics and safety. Characters manipulate evidence to control the outcome.

  • media
  • truth
  • news
  • propaganda
  • sensationalism
Q8

Who is Alex Barnes?

Alex Barnes is the missing party member whose fate drives the investigation throughout the film. The quest to locate Alex fuels the crew's perilous journey into the wilderness, and his disappearance becomes a key element in the antagonists' deception.

  • alex barnes
  • missing person
  • investigation
Q9

What genre does the movie fall into?

Hoax is a horror and survival thriller that blends elements of the found-footage genre with a murder mystery. It starts as a Bigfoot hunting documentary but shifts into a brutal survival horror when the threat is revealed to be human monsters rather than a mythic creature.

  • horror
  • thriller
  • survival
  • found footage
  • bigfoot
Q10

What makes Charlotte and her family dangerous?

Charlotte orchestrates horrific acts while disguised as monsters, using the Sasquatch legend as cover for their cannibalistic rituals. Her sons Luc and Gage are violent and unpredictable, dancing with the dead and contributing to the final acts of murder, revealing brutal, human evil lurking in plain sight.

  • charlotte
  • luc gage
  • cannibalism
  • danger
  • violence
Q11

How does the film portray survival instincts?

As resources dwindle and danger escalates, alliances fracture and primal instincts surface. The wilderness becomes a crucible where characters face both physical threats and moral hazards, testing what they will do to endure. The environment challenges their survival at every turn.

  • survival
  • instincts
  • alliances
  • resources
  • danger
Q12

Who is Cooper and why is he in the film?

Cooper is Alex Barnes's father, who joins the expedition seeking answers about his missing son. His determination to uncover the truth drives him into increasing danger as the mystery deepens, adding personal stakes to the investigation.

  • cooper
  • alex barnes
  • father
  • search

Movie threads

More Movies Like Hoax, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Hoax tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Family dramas with shocking revelations like Hoax

A single night unravels the hidden lies and tensions within a seemingly normal family. If you liked Hoax, explore other movies that delve into the dark underbelly of family life. These dramatic stories feature tense gatherings, explosive confrontations, and the unraveling of carefully constructed facades, revealing the hidden desires and deceptions that threaten to tear families apart.

  • anxious
  • oppressive
  • confrontational
  • desperate
  • unraveling
  • tense
  • Tone: dark, anxious, confrontational
  • Pacing: fast, tense, dialogue-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically centers on a family gathering or reunion that serves as a catalyst for conflict. Through a series of revelations, the characters' true natures and hidden struggles—such as infidelity, financial woes, or secret identities—are exposed. The linear progression builds towards a dramatic climax where the family's bonds are tested to their breaking point, often resulting in a bleak or bittersweet new reality.

Why they belong together: Movies in this thread are grouped by their intense focus on domestic drama, their use of confined settings to amplify tension, and their exploration of themes like hypocrisy, duty versus desire, and the fragility of social appearances. They share a heavy emotional weight and a dark, anxious tone.

Thrillers of deception and primal survival like Hoax

A search for truth becomes a brutal fight for survival against hidden monsters. Find movies similar to Hoax that take you on a harrowing journey from a simple goal to a brutal fight for survival. These films are characterized by high tension, graphic violence, and a dark twist where the antagonists are revealed to be monstrous humans, often exploiting the protagonists' vulnerability.

  • harrowing
  • brutal
  • sinister
  • desperate
  • primal fear
  • tense
  • Tone: dark, harrowing, sinister
  • Pacing: fast, relentless, panic-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The journey begins with a straightforward, often misguided objective that leads the characters into a dangerous situation. A major twist recontextualizes the threat, shifting it from an external or mythical danger to a deeply human evil. The plot then accelerates into a fast-paced survival horror, with graphic violence and psychological torment, culminating in a bleak ending where hope is extinguished.

Why they belong together: These films are united by their high intensity, fast pacing, and consistently dark tone. They share a narrative structure of a devastating reveal and a descent into chaos, focusing on themes of betrayal, primal fear, and the cruelty humans are capable of inflicting upon one another.

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Movies Like Hoax

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Every angle

Hoax (2018) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Hoax in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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