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It’s been a great year for horror movies — especially lately with Obsession and Backrooms breaking records despite their low budgets and young directors — and this weekend another offering hits the 2026 movie calendar from a first-time filmmaker. Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus caught my eye immediately for its creepy story that mashes supernatural horror with an LGBTQ+ love story, and after reading critics’ reviews, I’m even more pumped about the upcoming horror movie.
Leviticus stars Joe Bird, who many may remember from the Talk to Me cast as Riley, the little brother at the center of Talk to Me’s most horrifying moment. In Leviticus he plays Naim, who becomes tormented by a supernatural entity after falling for Stacy Clausen’s Ryan. So what are critics saying? In his Leviticus review, Marshall Shaffer of Slant gives it 3 out of 4 stars, writing that it’s both a creepy horror tale and a poignant teen romance. He says:
The film’s heart lies with Naim, the shier of the two boys. Watching the character’s tentativeness solidify into true tenderness proves tremendously affecting thanks to Bird’s performance. The young actor harnesses the probing spirit of an adolescent still in the process of discovering so much more about himself and his new surroundings. Bird renders the prospect of Naim losing Ryan, one of the few things he feels sure about, as heartbreakingly realistic. This volatile, vulnerable leading turn ensures that Leviticus never loses touch with human emotion, even as Chiarella steers the film’s conclusion more firmly toward genre terrain.
Carlos Aguilar of Variety agrees that Leviticus is a “brilliant” and “outstanding” debut from Adrian Chiarella that “marries blood-curling fright with incisive social commentary.” Aguilar says the director has earned his place amongst the genre’s most compelling voices, writing:
With Leviticus, Chiarella wields horror in defense of queer love, avoiding easy sentimentalism, while also not surrendering to hopelessness, all while still satisfying the audience’s cravings for effective, bone-chilling uneasiness. Time will do its thing, but Leviticus does seem bound to earn a place in the pantheon of notable queer horror.
Mark Kennedy of the AP rates the movie 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the leads in Adrian Chiarella’s “auspicious” debut that makes demons out of desire. Kennedy writes:
Chiarella is leaning not only into the notion that sexual desire makes you vulnerable, but also the harm that repressing who you are can do. In this case, the demon takes the form of your crush. It has weaponized lust. … Chiarella’s pro-queer filmmaking extends to his ability to perfectly capture the fumbling ecstasy of new love, the fierce longing of stolen kisses and how scary it is to submit to a new partner. Kudos to Bird and Clausen for capturing that universal feeling.
Many critics are drawing comparisons between Leviticus and It Follows, but Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting says Adrian Chiarella’s flick rises above the influences of other movies in how it portrays the horror of constantly living in fear for simply existing. The critic gives it 3.5 skulls out of 5 and says:
Leviticus is a strong debut with an incisive voice at the helm. Chiarella coaxes poignant, layered performances out of his young leads that ensure that the social horror cuts deep, even if some of the more supernatural components occasionally feel stale. We care deeply about Naim and Ryan’s survival, making Leviticus a tense, atmospheric, and claustrophobic vision of young love in a hateful world.
Kristy Puchko of Mashable calls Leviticus a “queer horror treasure” that resembles something we might see if Heated Rivalry took a really dark turn. The movie is an “absolute stunner,” she says, calling it “supremely suspenseful, smartly done, and ultimately rebellious.” Joe Bird is the true star here, as Puchko says:
Leviticus relies not so much on rules or rituals to build its world and message, but on the performances of Bird and Clausen. As in Talk to Me, Bird has a riveting vulnerability onscreen. Here, his eyes flicker with lust, fear, jealousy, and bliss. His slightness compared to Ryan makes him seem fragile, whether he's risking a kiss or running for his life. He is alive, and how could an audience not fall under the skin of his experience, getting goosebumps in arousal and horror right alongside him?
Critics have been praising Adrian Chiarella’s vision of homophobia as horror since Leviticus premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January — to the point that it will debut Friday, June 19, to a Certified Fresh 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. But as Chiarella told our own Corey Chichizola, it goes beyond an allegory for conversion therapy.
This has been one LGBTQ+ movie I’ve been looking forward to, and reading about how powerful Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen’s performances are in this “blood-curdling” movie has only made me more excited.
