In Leviticus, desire can lead you straight into danger.

Adrian Chiarella’s feature debut turns the excitement of new love into a source of fear. This original, intense entry in the rare gay-horror subgenre confronts homophobia through a story that is as psychologically unsettling as it is frightening.

Naim (Joe Bird) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) are teenagers in a small Australian town, where their growing closeness gives Naim the thrill of his first feelings. Then he catches Ryan with another boy: the local pastor’s son. Wounded, Naim threatens to out them. In this deeply religious community, homosexuality is wholly rejected, and the two boys are made to undergo a strange ceremony intended to eradicate it.

After the ceremony, both boys are hunted by a sinister presence with a terrifying method. It assumes the appearance of the person each desires most, draws its target into sex, then kills. Still in love with Ryan, Naim tries to make sense of what is happening, only to find himself exposed to the same pursuit. The boys love each other, but every meeting brings the same question: is the person in front of them their beloved, or the entity preparing to kill them?

When Desire Becomes the Horror

The premise makes every glimpse of a loved one uncertain. At the start of a relationship, seeing that person can send a thrill through you; here, the same anticipation is poisoned by dread. Should you go to them and face the curse together, or run before they seduce and deceive you, carrying you toward your death?

That cruel inversion places Leviticus alongside It Follows, the brilliant Smile franchise and the more recent Obsession. As in horror stories built around entities, unease is the point, and Chiarella’s idea of a predator wearing the face of the person you love and desire most proves exceptionally effective, generating moments of intense suspense.

A Community That Sacrifices Its Children

The threat grows out of the town’s bigotry. Behind its humanist appearance lies a community willing to endanger its own children, even expose them to death, rather than accept their homosexuality. Mia Wasikowska is chilling as a mother blinded by her beliefs.

Atmosphere Over Gore

The film’s strength rests on more than its ingenious setup. Two talented young actors make their characters affecting: bound by mutual love, they are also terrified that their own desire may kill them. Beautiful cinematography and meticulous direction keep the emphasis on atmosphere and psychology, not cheap effects or gore.

The result is one of the best horror films of recent years, and a gay horror film already set to become a cult classic.

In cinemas on October 7, 2026.

Other Gay Horror Films

• Devouring
• Freddy’s Revenge
• Voyeurs
• Brain Damage