Leviticus

This haunting and innovative horror film follows two teenagers who are tormented by a supernatural entity that was summoned by their religious community. This entity takes the form of each boy and cleverly uses this mechanic to create a queer social horror inspired by genre staples such as IT FOLLOWS and THE WITCH.

Review from Variety

“I want it to look like you,” resonates as the most romantic line exchanged between the two young men at the center of “Leviticus,” a tightly conceived, gripping queer horror that reaches for unassuming brilliance through a supernatural premise that’s as terrifying as it is thematically relevant. The statement implies that even if their fate is to be haunted, likely to death, by an entity that takes the form of the person they are most attracted to, they would choose for that malevolent force to personify each other. What is love if not a willingness to fight another person’s demons alongside them?

Titled after the book in the Bible that features what some devotees interpret as a condemnation of homosexuality, calling it an “abomination,” this outstanding debut from writer-director Adrian Chiarella organically marries blood-curling fright with incisive social commentary. He joins a large contingent of accomplished Australian genre filmmakers working today (Jennifer Kent and Danny and Michael Philippou among them).

Chiarella introduces his two main characters while they hang out inside an abandoned mill. The boys challenge each other to throw heavy objects, which leads to intense roughhousing. That early scene, at first, seems typical of two young male friends asserting their masculinity in a juvenile manner. But then, blonde-haired Ryan (Stacy Clausen) kisses Naim (Joe Bird) while pinning him down on the ground. Conscious that in their small and mostly desolate Australian town, where everyone knows everyone, life still revolves around Christianity, they agree to keep their newfound, mutual desire a secret.

Read the rest of the review from Carlos Aguilar here...