Leviticus

🤩 Leviticus, dir. Adrian Chiarella, 2026, Australia, 88 min.
⚠️ homophobic violence, some self-harm and abuse
Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 9:00 PM, Roxie Theater
🌉 Bay Area premiere
🏆 FL50: Jury Award, Outstanding First Narrative Feature (tie) (SF Bay Area Film Critics Circle)
🎦 Now playing in theaters!

Leviticus (photo courtesy of NEON)

Frameline blurb: What happens when the star-crossed passion of Heated Rivalry and the unsettling atmosphere of It Follows collide? Leviticus — the latest entry in the growing pantheon of must-see Australian horror hits. In writer-director Adrian Chiarella’s haunting-yet-sensual debut feature, teenagers Naim (Joe Bird) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) live in an isolated and conservative small town that’s taken with a religious order intent on “curing” young sinners.

But when the supposed “cleansing” ceremony goes awry, Naim and Ryan find themselves stalked by a violent entity that takes the form of the person its victims desire most. Unable to fully trust each other, Naim and Ryan attempt to escape the supernatural force, their suffocating community, and the adults, like Naim’s mom (Mia Wasikowska), who’ve failed them. Bolstered by the leads’ magnetic chemistry, this queer coming-of-age horror is a poignant reflection of what it means to love and desire openly in an often-unwelcoming world.

My take: I missed Leviticus at Frameline50 (my loss — the director and one of the stars were there!), but I get a second chance, because it is getting a (very limited!) theatrical run in the United States and other countries. That means that I saw it at the AMC Metreon with a bit more of a cross-section of the general population, more horror fans rather than LGBTQ+ film aficionados. However, Leviticus has been getting glowing reviews in mainstream press, and there was a reasonable crowd, even at a 5:15 show on a weekday.

The first thing I focused on was the main character’s mother, who I had almost convinced myself was played by Claire Danes, but it’s actually Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, who delivers a chilling performance as a mother who doesn’t know what to do in a situation she doesn’t understand. Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen do an outstanding job of capturing the initial attraction, the confusion, and the terror of two boys in love in a conservative town and an even more conservative church. There are a couple of good old-fashioned horror film moments (blood, jump scares, that sort of thing), but the horror is generally more intellectual than visceral, wondering what this supernatural monster is and how they might possibly escape from it.

I’m generally not a big fan of horror movies, nor of movies with heavy Old Testament imagery, but Leviticus manages to focus more on the human characters than on the supernatural menace. The performances are excellent, and the film keeps the pace taut but not frenetic. Leviticus is obviously a must see for horror movie buffs, but also anyone wrestling with the residue of religious guilt over being LGBTQ+. Indeed, unless you’re really averse to anything involving blood, you should check it out.

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