Leviticus (2026) Review — When Desire Becomes the Monster

You know that feeling. The one that shows up uninvited at 2 a.m. — heart hammering, palms damp, thoughts doing something you absolutely did not give them permission to do. You try to pray it away. You try to sleep it off. You tell yourself that if you just lie still enough, it will pass.

Now imagine a whole town agreeing with you. The preacher. Your parents. Your mates. Everyone you love, standing in a circle, telling you the feeling itself is the monster. And then they do something about it — a ritual, old and sure and humming with the kind of confidence only true believers have. Except the ritual works. Just not the way anyone planned. Because the thing that answers doesn’t destroy desire. It wears it. It studies the exact shape of what you want most in this world… and puts on that face like a Sunday suit.

You can run from a demon. You cannot run from the face of the person you love most. Welcome to Leviticus (2026) — the scariest idea in horror this year, and one of the most bruised, beating hearts the genre has shown us in a long time.

The Review

Here’s the setup, and I’ll keep it spoiler-light because this is a film that deserves to ambush you. Naim (Joe Bird) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) are two teenage boys in a devout rural Australian town, and they’re falling in love in a place that has decided love like theirs is a sin that needs curing. Once they’re discovered, the town’s answer is a supernatural conversion therapy ritual — and that ritual cracks open a door that should have stayed shut. What comes through is a violent entity that shapeshifts into the person you desire most. For these two boys, that’s each other. Sleep tight.

What works

Almost everything, honestly. The central concept is a genuine all-timer: a monster that weaponizes longing itself. Every time the entity appears wearing a beloved face, the film forces you to ask the most uncomfortable question horror can ask — how do you fight something you don’t want to hurt? Writer-director Adrian Chiarella, making his feature directorial debut, directs like he’s been doing this for decades. The outback setting is shot with this oppressive, sun-bleached dread — wide skies that should feel free and instead feel like a lid on a coffin. The sound design is nasty in the best way, all low drones and sudden silences that make your stomach drop out. And at a tight 88 minutes, the film never once checks its watch.

The performances

Joe Bird as Naim is quietly devastating — the kind of performance where a flicker across the face does more than a monologue ever could. Stacy Clausen matches him beat for beat as Ryan, all defiance and tenderness braided together. Jeremy Blewitt brings real menace as Hunter without ever tipping into cartoon villainy. And then there’s Mia Wasikowska, who also executive produced, lending the whole thing a gravity that says yes, this story matters, and I put my name on it to prove it. The ensemble treats the material with total sincerity, which is exactly why the horror lands.

What doesn’t

Fair warning, ghouls: the middle stretch sags just slightly as the film sets its chess pieces in place — you’ll feel about ten minutes of table-setting that a leaner cut might have trimmed. A couple of jump scares are telegraphed from a mile away (you’ll see the hallway coming, trust me). And the ending is going to divide people — it’s bold, it’s bleak in places, and it refuses to hand you the catharsis you think you’ve earned. I admired it more than I loved it, but I’ve been thinking about it for days, which is more than I can say for most horror endings.

One thing I want to be clear about: the film handles its subject matter with real respect. The horror here is the institution — the ritual, the town, the machinery of shame — never the boys. Naim and Ryan’s love is the warmest, most human thing in the movie. That’s the point. That’s what makes it hurt. That’s what makes it great.

Trivia & Facts

• Written and directed by Adrian Chiarella — his feature directorial debut.
• Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2026.
• US theatrical release: June 19, 2026, via Neon. Digital release followed on July 28, 2026.
• Made for just $3.5 million, it scared up $8.9 million at the box office — more than double its budget.
• Runtime: a lean 88 minutes. Rated R.
• Holds a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes — critics are officially rattled (in a good way).
• Stars Joe Bird (Naim), Stacy Clausen (Ryan), Jeremy Blewitt (Hunter), and Mia Wasikowska, who also served as executive producer.
• Set in a devout rural Australian town — the outback itself practically plays a character.

Harper’s Extras

Double feature it with: my Hokum (2026) review — another 2026 chiller where the setting itself wants you dead. Ireland’s most haunted inn meets Australia’s most haunted church hall. You’re welcome.

Best watched: lights off, phone in another room, and someone next to you whose hand you can grab when the entity smiles with a face you recognize. Trust me on the hand thing.

Second-viewing homework: watch the ritual scenes again once you know what the entity is really doing. The blocking is telling you everything — Chiarella hides the whole movie in plain sight.

Keep your eye on: Adrian Chiarella. A debut this assured doesn’t happen by accident. If he keeps this up, we’ll be saying his name the way we say Aster’s.

Where to Watch

After its Neon theatrical run starting June 19, 2026, Leviticus arrived on digital for purchase and rental on July 28, 2026 — check your usual storefronts (Prime Video, Apple TV, and friends). I’ll keep the details fresh over on the Think Horror Wiki as streaming options expand. This one deserves the biggest, darkest screen you can give it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Leviticus (2026) based on a true story?

No — Leviticus is an original story by Adrian Chiarella. But it draws on the very real history and practices of conversion therapy, which is exactly why the horror cuts so deep. The supernatural entity is fiction; the institution it feeds on is not.

Where can I watch Leviticus?

Leviticus (2026) is available on digital for purchase and rental following its July 28, 2026 digital release, after a US theatrical run via Neon starting June 19, 2026. Check the Think Horror Wiki for the latest streaming availability.

Who directed Leviticus (2026)?

Adrian Chiarella wrote and directed Leviticus (2026), marking his feature directorial debut — and what a debut it is.

What is Leviticus (2026) about?

Two teenage boys, Naim and Ryan, fall in love in a devout rural Australian town. After being discovered, they’re subjected to a supernatural conversion therapy ritual that unleashes a violent entity — one that shapeshifts into the person each victim desires most. For these two boys, that means each other.