Leviticus Review: Queer Horror Has Never Hit This Hard

Leviticus review: the queer Australian horror film Joe Bird stars in just opened, and we saw it opening night. Here's our raw reaction. Leviticus (2026) — written and directed by Adrian Chiarella — is one of the best horror films of this year so far. It's sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and the praise is not overstated. This is a queer coming-of-age horror film that follows Naim (Joe Bird, Talk to Me) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) — two teenage boys in a small, deeply religious town in rural Australia whose emerging feelings for each other trigger a supernatural entity that stalks anyone who's had a conversion ritual performed on them.

• Leviticus (2026) — written and directed by Adrian Chiarella in his feature debut. Released June 18, 2026 in Australia; June 19, 2026 in the US via Neon. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2026 (Midnight section).
• Produced by Causeway Films (also behind Talk to Me, The Babadook, Bring Her Back). Distributed internationally by Neon, acquired in a reported seven-figure deal post-Sundance.
• Running time: 88 minutes. Currently sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 84 on Metacritic. Nominated for an audience award at SXSW.

• Joe Bird as Naim — best known as Riley in Talk to Me (2022). AACTA Young Stars Award 2025 winner. Leviticus is his first leading film role.
• Stacy Clausen as Ryan — praised by critics for conveying warmth beneath Ryan's guarded exterior.
• Mia Wasikowska as Arlene, Naim's mother — widely known for Crimson Peak, Alice in Wonderland. Plays the film's quiet, devastating antagonist.
• Nicholas Hope as the deliverance healer. Jeremy Blewitt as Hunter. Ewen Leslie as Rod.

• Leviticus sits within a larger queer horror tradition — the film draws deliberate comparisons to It Follows (2014) in its use of a supernatural entity as social metaphor.
• The film's central metaphor: a post-exorcism entity that takes the form of whoever the victim desires most. It follows them. It adapts. It doesn't stop. The implication — that sexuality cannot be prayed away — is embedded in the film's rules.
• Meaghan also draws a comparison to Grave Tone's coverage of At the Place of Ghosts, another recent queer horror film dealing with queerness and small community dynamics.
• The book of Leviticus (specifically Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13) provides the film's title — and its central indictment of religious doctrine used to justify violence against queer people.

• Causeway Films has quietly built one of horror's most consistent track records: The Babadook (2014), Talk to Me (2022), The Moogai (2024), Bring Her Back (2025), Leviticus (2026).
• Arthur and Meaghan discuss what makes Australian horror feel distinctively raw and stripped-back — less Hollywood gloss, more visceral grounding in real places and real dread.
• Director Adrian Chiarella filmed across Victorian regional towns including Geelong and Bacchus Marsh — specific locations chosen to reinforce the film's claustrophobic, isolated atmosphere.

• Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen completed two weeks of pre-production bonding exercises — including a shopping complex improvisation (staying in character while buying each other gifts as their characters).
• Director Chiarella drove both leads around the filming locations before production began to build atmosphere and connection. A significant portion of the film's dialogue and movement was improvised on set.
• Production designer chosen specifically for her subdued, drab color palette — a deliberate visual choice to reinforce the emotional bleakness of the setting.
• Score composed by Jed Kurzel. Cinematography by Tyson Perkins.

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