LEVITICUS

(director/writer: Adrian Chiarella; cinematographer: Tyson Perkins; editor: Nick Fenton; music: Jed Kurzel; cast: Stacy Clausen (Ryan), Mia Wasikowska (Arlene), Nicholas Hope (preacher, Deliverance Healer), Joe Bird (Naim), Jeremy Blewitt (Hunter), Ewen Leslie (Pastor)Tyallah Bullock (Marnie); Runtime: 88; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Hannah Ngo, Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceylon; Neon; 2026-Australia)

“Covers the horror genre from a queer viewpoint.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
Director/writer Adrian Chiarella’s feature debut is an affirmative LGBTQ+ film about a blood ritual that covers the horror genre from a queer viewpoint. It argues against the controversial conversion therapy as a viable treatment for gays and of the bigotry displayed in the name of religion in a backwater town.


In an Australian homophobic Christian small-town, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) newly arrives with her teenage son Naim (Joe Bird). He hits it off with his classmate, the hunk Ryan (Stacy Clausen), and they become a couple.

Naim becomes jealous when he catches Ryan kissing the pastor’s son, Hunter (Jeremy Blewitt), and reports this to Hunter’s father (Ewen Leslie) and mother (Edwina Wren).


Naim and Ryan are taken for treatment to the Deliverance Healer (Nicholas Hope) for conversion therapy. But the therapy to rid them of being gay backfires, resulting in hallucinations and physical harm to the boys.


The title Leviticus comes from the chapter in the Bible that evangelicals often cite as condemning homosexuality.

It’s a haunting film that effectively gets across its message of the need for sexual acceptance. The performances by the youthful Bird and Clausen are very good.

It played at the SXSW Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 7/12/2026  GRADE: B
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