Leviticus (2026) Neon/Horror RT: 88 minutes Rated R (bloody violent content, language, some sexual content, teen drug use) Director: Adrian Chiarella Screenplay: Adrian Chiarella Music: Jed Kurzel Cinematography: Tyson Perkins Release date: June 19, 2026 (US) Cast: Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Mia Wasikowska, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, Davida McKenzie, Nicholas Hope, Zamira Newman, Edwina Wren.
Rating: ***
It makes perfect sense to release the gay horror film Leviticus during Pride Month. It’s more than just a scary movie; it’s an indictment of homophobia and the small-minded religious types who believe homosexuality is a sin that needs to be repressed, by force if necessary. They think you can just pray the gay away and failing that, more extreme methods (e.g. conversion camps) are applied. It’s prime material for a horror film.
Written and directed by Adrian Chiarella, Leviticus takes place in a small deeply religious community in Victoria. Naim (Bird, Talk to Me) is new to the area. He moved there with his mother (Wasikowska, Alice in Wonderland) after the death of his father. They’re both still dealing with grief. Mom finds comfort in religion while Naim finds it with Ryan (Clausen, Crazy Fun Park), a local boy who’s secretly gay and in a relationship with the pastor’s son Hunter (Blewitt, The Clearing). Naim didn’t realize this when he and Ryan had a moment in an abandoned warehouse.
Shocked and hurt, a vindictive Naim outs Hunter to his parents. This results in the pastor (Leslie, The Nightingale) calling in a “deliverance healer” (Hope, Bad Boy Bubby) to cure both boys of their affliction. He conducts a ritual that’s supposed to rid them of their impure desires. What it actually does is horrifying.
After the ritual, an exorcism of sorts, the boys are never the same. Ryan starts behaving strangely. For some reason, he’s terrified of Naim. Hunter exhibits bizarre behavior as well. He ends up dead. Naim comes to learn they’ve been exposed to a malevolent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most. He takes his concerns to the local police, but they’re no help. Instead, they out him to his mother. She responds by forcing him to undergo the same ritual. Now when he sees Ryan, it might not actually be Ryan.
The entity is obviously a metaphor for the guilt and self-loathing experienced by gays living in a situation where they’re condemned for something over which they have no control. It’s a literal visualization of the notion that gay love is sinful. It’s meant to externalize the horrors of conversion therapy which typically does more harm than good. Chiarella takes all of this and puts it in the context of a horror film that I think will resonate with the LGBTQ+ community. I can totally see it becoming a queer cult classic.
As of late, I’ve heard the term “scariest movie ever made” or words to that effect applied to too many horror films. It’s become meaningless. And it’s usually not true anyway. I heard somebody say it about Leviticus and all it did was send up a red flag. I learned long ago not to buy into the hype surrounding any film. This rule has served me well over the years. It served me well here. I went into Leviticus not expecting anything earth-shaking or ground-breaking. That’s exactly what I got. It’s a decent enough scary movie although hardly original. It reminds me a lot of 2014’s It Follows. I loved that movie. This one, I like.
One thing Chiarella knows how to do well is provide atmosphere. Leviticus has it in spades. The small Australian town where everything goes down seems to be caught in a permanent overcast state. It’s never bright and sunny there. There’s an unsettling hum that underscores the proceedings. The camera work by Tyson Perkins serves to blur our understanding of who or what is real. The score by Jed Kurzel blends the eerie with the melancholy to create something evocative. When all put together, the movie comes to resemble a nightmare.
It’s still a little hard to accept the teen stars of back in the day being cast as parents in newer movies. I damn near died when I saw Mia Sara (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) as the grandmother in last year’s wonderful drama The Life of Chuck. I had a similar reaction to seeing Wasikowska as the mother of a teenager here. She does a good job though playing a mom who’s anything but loving and supportive. Instead, she plays the character as cold and unlikable, likely the result of grief over the loss of her husband. In order to cope, she shut herself off emotionally and got all religious. It’s the right way to play her.
The two leads, Bird and Clausen, have great chemistry. They alos deliver fine individual performances. Bird perfectly captures his character’s confusion and naivety as he navigates his way through his first real relationship. First love is always difficult whether you’re gay or straight. Clausen is equally good as a teen who knows himself a little better, but suffers because he has to keep it to himself. That is, until Naim inadvertently outs him. You can feel his anguish and anger. As for fear, it’s palpable in both teens. Again, fear is a big part of first love, gay or straight.
It’s hard right now for any horror film to compete with Obsession (it just passed the $200M mark at the box office). Everybody is still talking about it. If not for it, people might be talking about Leviticus instead. Actually, I think it will still be talked about in some circles although I don’t see it being as a big a hit. It will make a lot of people uncomfortable. It addresses some uncomfortable themes. Well, isn’t that the point of horror? I sure say it is.
