Australian writer-director Adrian Chiarella makes his feature debut with LEVITICUS, a queer horror film that transforms first love into something terrifying, intimate and deeply personal.
Produced by Causeway Films, in association with Arenamedia and Lazy Susan Films, the 86-minute feature follows teenage boys Naim and Ryan, whose unexpected connection draws dangerous attention from their small community. After a ritual is performed on them, a violent supernatural entity is unleashed — one that takes the form of the person its victim desires most. For Naim and Ryan, that means each other.
At its core, LEVITICUS is both a horror film and a coming-of-age love story. Chiarella uses the monster as a metaphor for homophobia, internalised shame and the fear that can surround queer desire, particularly during adolescence. Rather than relying on jump scares, the film builds dread through isolation, secrecy and the pressure of a community shaped by rigid beliefs.
The film stars Joe Bird as Naim and Stacy Clausen as Ryan, with Mia Wasikowska as Arlene. The cast also includes Jeremy Blewitt, Davida McKenzie, Ewen Leslie, Nicholas Hope and Zahra Newman.
Chiarella says the idea grew from his lifelong fascination with horror and the way fear can cross cultural boundaries. “The best horror movies explore something very primal, and there is something about fear that translates all around the world,” he says.
He was also drawn to the way early queer desire can become tangled with terror. “Growing up as a young gay man, I am aware that those first exciting feelings of desire are often mingled with a sense of terror because of thousands of years of institutionalised homophobia, and so when I started making films, I really wanted to explore that.”
The film’s world is deliberately stark and restrained. Set against an industrial Australian landscape of concrete, steel, glass and empty streets, LEVITICUS avoids traditional religious imagery in favour of modern, ordinary spaces that slowly become unsettling. A community church, a sparse family home and even a vintage-style photo booth become places where fear and desire collide.
Production designer Bethany Ryan helped shape a town that feels drained of warmth and trapped in time, while cinematographer Tyson Perkins worked closely with Chiarella to frame the story through Naim’s perspective. The result is a tense, atmospheric visual style where darkness, distance and empty space become central to the horror.
For Chiarella, the film’s emotional power depends on the relationship between Naim and Ryan. Bird and Clausen were cast after a wide search, with their chemistry giving the filmmakers confidence that the love story could hold the audience even as the horror intensified.
“When you make a film like this, you want to make sure the heart of the film is strong, and the heart of this film was always going to be the relationship between those two boys,” Chiarella says.
Bird describes the script as “the best thing I’ve ever read”, calling the film “a horror, action, drama, coming of age, love story”. Clausen says the story explores how honesty and vulnerability can become a defence against fear, adding that even without the horror elements, the film would remain “a beautiful coming-of-age romance drama”.
Causeway Films producers Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton, known for Australian genre hits including The Babadook and Talk to Me, were drawn to the film’s fresh concept and emotional clarity. Jennings says the story’s blend of first love, queer identity and internalised homophobia called to mind “a ‘queer’ It Follows”.
The creative team also includes editor Nick Fenton, sound designer Emma Bortignon, composer Jed Kurzel, costume designer Zohie Castellano, hair and makeup designer Rebecca Buratto, and casting director Nikki Barrett.
Early critical responses have praised the film’s atmosphere, performances and distinctive queer horror voice. Variety wrote that Chiarella “earns himself a prime place among new genre voices”, while The Guardian called it “a smart and surprisingly romantic debut”.
With LEVITICUS, Chiarella delivers a horror film about the damage caused when desire is treated as something dangerous. It is a story about first love, identity, fear and the longing to be truly seen — even in a world determined to turn that longing into a curse.
LEVITICUS IS IN THEATRES JUNE 18
