Opening in theaters on June 19 is ‘Leviticus,’ written and directed by Adrian Chiarella, and starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Davida McKenzie, Ewen Leslie, Nicholas Hope, and Mia Wasikowska.
Opening in theaters on June 19 is ‘Leviticus,’ written and directed by Adrian Chiarella, and starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Davida McKenzie, Ewen Leslie, Nicholas Hope, and Mia Wasikowska.
(L to R) Stacy Clausen and Joe Bird star in ‘Leviticus’. Photo: Neon.
Opening in theaters on June 19 is ‘Leviticus,’ written and directed by Adrian Chiarella, and starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Davida McKenzie, Ewen Leslie, Nicholas Hope, and Mia Wasikowska.
Related Article: A24 has Ordered a Sequel to Successful, Spirit-Contacting Horror Movie ‘Talk to Me’
Initial Thoughts
(L to R) Stacy Clausen and Joe Bird star in ‘Leviticus’. Photo: Neon.
If May was an outstanding month for horror cinema in 2026 – with the arrival of ‘Backrooms,’‘Obsession,’ and ‘Hokum’ – then June seems to be continuing the string with the arrival of ‘Leviticus,’ the feature debut from Australian writer-director Adrian Chiarella.
While ‘Leviticus’ is heavily reminiscent of another indie horror hit from a few years back, and doesn’t really flesh out its mythology or ending as well as it could, the film is still a confidently directed first theatrical effort from its director, with a consistent mood, two excellent lead performances, and a number of genuinely chilling se quences. And the film’s subtext adds another layer to the story, the sort that the horror genre can provide at its best.
Story and Direction
(L to R) ‘Leviticus’ director Adrian Chiarella and Joe Bird.
Naim (Joe Bird) has recently moved to a small factory town in a rather dreary part of Australia with his mom Arlene (Mia Wasikowska), who has involved them in the local – and quite conservative – religious community. What Arlene doesn’t know is that Naim has started an intense relationship with a youth named Ryan (Stacy Clausen) – a relationship that they only get to enjoy while alone and doing things like exploring abandoned warehouses. In school, in particular, Stacy all but ignores Naim to keep up appearances.
But when Naim sees Ryan kissing another local boy named Hunter, he is so hurt and jealous that he informs Ryan’s parents about it – precipitating a visit from a ‘deliverance healer’ (Nicholas Hope) who performs a religious ritual on Ryan and Hunter to cleanse them of their ‘unnatural’ desires. While that aspect of the ritual doesn’t work, it somehow brings forth an entity that viciously attacks its victim when they’re alone by taking the shape of the person they most desire.
The entity attacks Hunter in the form of Stacy, while it also pursues Stacy in the form of Naim. And when Naim’s mother has the ritual performed on him, he begins to see the entity in the form of Ryan. Soon Ryan and Stacy are unable to trust each other, and desperately try to find out how the entity came into being and what they can do to stop it, before it kills them both.
(L to R) Stacy Clausen and Joe Bird star in ‘Leviticus’. Photo: Neon.
Genre fans will no doubt recognize a number of similarities between this film and David Robert Mitchell’s ‘It Follows,’ particularly with the elements of the entity that can assume any form and is connected to sex or at least desire. It’s derivative enough on some level to be distracting, especially since Chiarella doesn’t quite flesh out the rules of his haunting. How alone do you have to be for the entity to attack? Can you outrun it? Does it take breaks for certain amounts of time?
These questions, while in some ways flippant, definitely come to mind. And while not over-explaining the threat in a horror film is quite often a good thing, ‘Leviticus’ might need a little more. Same goes for much of its third act; once the cards are on the table and the supernatural menace is spelled out, the film’s denouement seems somewhat abrupt.
(L to R) Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen star in ‘Leviticus’. Photo: Neon.
Having said that, this is still a rich film because of the themes that Chiarella lays down. The ostracization of queer people – especially teens — is central and clear, while the dark abuse at the hands of elders, religious ones in particular, is drawn in harrowing fashion. The ritual that the boys undergo is nothing less than a metaphor for the odious, destructive practice of conversion therapy, and the way that the entity uses a person’s own natural desires against them can also be seen as a stand-in for the horrendous psychological damages that these practices can wreak on people, especially youths. ‘This is what they want, for us to be scared of each other,’ says Ryan at one point, and it’s heartbreaking to think of how many LGBTQ youths must be feeling exactly what he says.
All that is effective, as is Chiarella’s consistency of tone and aesthetic (which, it must be said, also pulls from ‘It Follows,’ particularly in the drab look and feel of the town) and the genuine romantic charge he gets out of his leads. The horror sequences, while somewhat few in nature, are also often quite unnerving. Seeing the story through the eyes of these boys is bracing and fresh. ‘Leviticus’ just misses greatness due to the thin nature of its script, particularly in the back half.
Cast and Performances
Joe Bird stars in ‘Leviticus’. Photo: Neon.
Fresh off the harrowing ‘Talk to Me,’ Joe Bird is exceptional here as Naim. Shy, slight, the kind of sensitive, awkward boy who might get bullied even if he wasn’t gay, Naim is trapped between the person he wants to be and what the community expects of him. Bird’s Naim is empathetic even when he makes an unforgivable, impulsive choice – the kind that many young people might make, although his comes out of real hurt and not selfish desire as that of Bear in ‘Obsession’ — that sets him and Ryan on their terrifying trajectory.
Stacy Clausen is equally effective as Ryan, clearly the alpha of the relationship, although Clausen perfectly nails the exterior bravado and aggressiveness that masks the often-frightened young man beneath. He and Bird share an instant, passionate chemistry, and Clausen is just as intense when he’s portraying his doppelganger, adding a subtle chilliness that makes him seem unsettlingly alien and inhuman.
The rest of the cast has an innate, lived-in naturalism (Nicholas Hope’s healer is unnervingly matter-of-fact), although we would liked to have seen more of Mia Wasikowska’s Arlene and understand better what makes her tick.
Final Thoughts
Joe Bird stars in ‘Leviticus’. Photo: Neon.
Although horror fans will catch the influence of other genre favorites, ‘Leviticus’ is still an assured debut from yet another new voice in the field. The fact that Adrian Chiarella approaches the genre through an underrepresented community only adds to his potential, especially if he continues to work in a genre that has seen a number of queer filmmakers in recent times stake out territory for themselves.
While it has its shortcomings, ‘Leviticus’ has enough strengths in terms of mood, character, themes, and eeriness to make it another worthwhile addition to this year’s exciting new crop of genre entries from up-and-coming directors.
‘Leviticus’ receives a score of 80 out of 100.
Joe Bird stars in ‘Leviticus’. Photo: Neon.
What is the plot of ‘Leviticus’?
Two teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most: each other.
Who is in the cast of ‘Leviticus’?
Joe Bird as NaimStacy Clausen as RyanMia Wasikowska as ArleneJeremy Blewitt as HunterEwen Leslie as RodDavida McKenzie as IzzieNicholas Hope as the Deliverance HealerZahra Newman as RitaEdwina Wren as JackyTyallah Bullock as Marnie
‘Leviticus’ opens in theaters on June 19th.
List of Movies Featuring Joe Bird:
Buy Tickets: ‘Leviticus’ Movie Showtimes
Movie Reviews RSS Feed
