Leviticus Review: Heartfelt Queer Horror is a Hair-Raising Love Story
Starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, and Mia Wasikowska, the Australian horror film follows two star-crossed teen boys who must face a shapeshifting evil force
Words by Alex Secilmis 24 January 2026
© Courtesy of Sundance Institute
If there is a name that deserves more recognition in horror, it is Causeway Films. The independent Australian production company has been behind some of the biggest films in the genre, including The Babadook, The Nightingale, and Talk to Me. Their latest effort, Leviticus, the debut feature from writer-director Adrian Chiarella, joins their resume of striking, singular horror movies while exploring a fresh subject matter: a teenage queer romance.
With his disturbing premise—a deliverance healer curses queer kids to be stalked by a monster in the shape of the person they desire most—Chiarella has crafted a potent, layered metaphor about queer shame that’s more than just a supernatural conversion therapy analogy. The film centres on Naim (Joe Bird), a quiet teenager who moves with his mother (Mia Wasikowska) to a remote Australian town with a zealous religious community. There, he meets Ryan (Stacy Clausen), and after a private trip to the mill ends in wrestling and kissing, the pair develop feelings for one another. When their sexuality is later exposed, the community calls upon the deliverance healer to solve to extract their “lust” and “indecencies”. Now, whenever Naim and Ryan see each other, they can’t be sure that it’s not a malevolent entity luring them in with intimacy before trying to kill them.
© Causeway Films
Like It Follows infused with religious bigotry, Leviticus is a 50/50 blend of teen romance and nightmarish horror flick. The scares hit hard precisely because the budding queer relationship is so sensitively explored, and Chiarella’s clever script reframes the standard horror beats so that they run parallel to the queer experience. When Naim tries to explain the monster to the police, Chiarella links the classic “you have to believe me” scene with Naim coming out, and the result is twice as devastating: nobody thinks he’s telling the truth, and he’s scorned for his sexuality. Meanwhile, every little moment of connection between Naim and Ryan is loaded with tension, and as they soon realise, the monster wants them to be afraid of their desire.
© Causeway Films
The film hinges on the crackling chemistry between its two leads, Clausen and Bird, who previously rocked Sundance with his breakout role in Talk to Me. With both stars delivering vulnerable, forceful performances, Leviticus cements the pair as scream kings in the making. They’re captivating both in their romantic scenes and in the harrowing gore-fests when they meet the monster, which are gruesomely realised via practical effects.
A confident, chilling debut from Adrian Chiarella, Leviticus is a uniquely tender horror film that delicately explores the queer experience despite the brutality demanded by the genre.