Film Review: Leviticus
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If you are a fan of horror movies, 2026 has been a veritable feast. We’ve seen movies about liminal spaces, wishes gone wrong, and why being stranded on a desert island is terrible. Even amongst the bountiful cornucopia, Leviticus stands out on its own level. Artfully mixing real life horrors and the terror that can only come when the supernatural is present, Leviticus is simply one of the year’s best films.
The movie takes no time to introduce us to the goings on of a small town in Australia. In this small town, existence seems to narrow down to life in its simplest form. Kids go to school, parents go to work, and every Sunday they’re in church. Among the attendees are Naim and Ryan, two schools boys who have found a bit of solace in each other. They spend their days at school and their afternoons walking through the brush or at an abandoned mill. It’s in those moments they let their feelings show. Naim in particular seems to be clinging to this growing relationship, providing a balm to the pain of being in a podunk town with a mom who doesn’t seem to be fully there.
That is until he stumbles upon Ryan and the preacher’s son throwing rocks at each other, and then giving into passion. Naim, so distraught by the revelation, makes a confession that brings the deliverance healer to the town to cast the evil out of the boys. Unbeknownst to the kids, but known to us thanks to the brilliant opening scene, this isn’t healing but something else that preys on its victims. Naim, struggling from his part in what seems to be ailing the other two boys, finds himself on the wrong end of this cleansing, and thus begins an even bigger trouble for Naim and Ryan. With no real help from anyone and not a soul they can trust, they have to find a way to survive the impossible.
Upon first hearing the log line for Leviticus, I was truly shocked that a movie hadn’t really tried this concept. The closest thing that even comes to mind is It Follows. That film, an allegory for the perceived dangers of promiscuity and the real dangers of STDs, doesn’t so much stick the landing as wade you through a series of events and then reach an ending. Leviticus in turn has a much better handle on its material, due to a sharper focus.
Leviticus, like all great horror movies, grounds itself by exploiting real life terrors that religion and homophobia have visited on people. It’s a particular type of torture that these characters must endure fighting off the demon. Not only does it take the form of the person you desire most, but no one else can see it, making your hurt and lack of care from the community that much worse. It’s such a brilliant allegory about the wholistic aspect of the pain and hurt that many members of the LGBTQ community have to go through. In this community, much like our world, it’s not just about cleansing people for fear of their souls being damned, but about turning their desires against them, building up self harm, and turning what makes people themselves against them. Perhaps most horrifying is that all of this is being visited on our main characters under the guise of love and care. The saying that there’s no hate like Christian love gets taken to its most fantastical in this film, and its all we can do to root for Naim and Ryan to fight this thing togetehr and find a way out of their surroundings, even as their safety (each other) is threatened at every turn.
However all is not lost and the movie rises above the usual tropes of queer sadness by centering it around quite a beautiful love story. Adrian Chiarella’s script is so nimble that even amidst the terror, we get some beautiful yearning and lines such as “If it’s gonna look like any dickhead, I want it to look like you” (this is said in complete seriousness btw). I was rooting like hell for those two kids to make it beyond just them surviving a supernatural foe.
Speaking of, this movie’s success would not be so complete without the Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen acting showcase we’re treated to. As Naim and Ryan, they have to embody the characters so fully that we’ll believe that the demon versions of themselves are real. There’s a fun phrase that critic Nathaniel Rogers created when talking about certain movies as “women who lie to themselves.” Here in this movie we have boys lying to themselves but maybe also not, and Bird and Clausen thread the line, while still delivering on the romantic promise of young love. Their chemistry is so good that the studio has even released a scene pack prior to the film for people to make fan edits. While these two are certainly the headliners but Mia Wasikowska’s supporting turn is equally ravishing, because of the quiet stillness that belies a more sinister interior. I had no idea she was in the movie before sitting down and I am grateful she was cause she is wonderful, even as I grew to loathe her.
As mentioned at the top of this review, we seem to be in quite the summer for horror movies and Levicitus proves that we’ve still got more gold to discover. From the haunting shots to the aching feelings, this movie is a full meal for anyone heading to the theater.
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