Leviticus (15)

Emotionally reserved teenager Naim and his mother Arlene move to an evangelical Christian town in Victoria. Naim has always felt a ball of fear in the pit of his stomach, knowing he is different, but he soon realises another boy, Ryan, is also gay. The boys are subjected to a gay exorcism to purge them of their homosexual desires. They are subsequently hunted by a malevolent force that takes on the form of the person they desire the most: each other.

LondonNet Film Review

Leviticus (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Love is a drug that kills in Australian writer-director Adrian Chiarella’s horny horror. Inspired by the filmmaker’s experiences of growing up gay in a conservative community, Leviticus mines timely concerns about conversion therapy and rising numbers of hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community to conjure a malevolent force that takes on the form of the person you desire the most. This demonic doppelganger lures victims into a moment of lust-fuelled intimacy then seizes them by the throat and fatally violates willing flesh when their defences are down. Safe sex is a misnomer through Chiarella’s blood-smeared lens…

Emotionally reserved teenager Naim (Joe Bird) and his mother Arlene (Mia Wasikowska) move to an evangelical Christian town in Victoria where the grieving matriarch finds comfort among the local congregation led by pastor Rod (Ewen Leslie) and his wife Jacky (Edwina Wren). Naim has always felt a ball of fear in the pit of his stomach, knowing he is different, but he soon realises another boy, Ryan (Stacy Clausen), is also gay. Sparks of sexual attraction ignite and the pair meet in secret, concealing their authentic selves from a disapproving flock that views homosexuality as a sin.

Naim falls victim to jealousy when he sees Ryan kissing pastor’s son Hunter (Jeremy Blewitt) and the greened-eye boy outs his peers. With the blessing of the pastor, an enigmatic healer (Nicholas Hope) performs a gay exorcism to purge Ryan and Hunter of their homosexual desires and soon after, Hunter is murdered, supposedly by homophobic locals. Naim receives the same purification ritual, against his will, and is stalked by a relentless assassin that looks just like Ryan. Attacks intensify and Naim begs his mother to protect him. “I can’t help you,” she responds coldly.

Taking its title from the third book of The Bible which includes an oft-quoted verse about the “abomination” of a man lying with another man, Leviticus opens strongly with a teenage swimming pool lifeguard (Tyallah Bullock) falling victim to her invisible stalker, establishing the infernal rules of survival. Frustratingly, Naim and Hunter repeatedly ignore those rules to create fresh opportunities for carnage when exercising a modicum of common sense would keep both safe.

Less is more in terms of obligatory jump scares. Chiarella’s script only has one carefully orchestrated jolt and it works beautifully, delivered with full body-shuddering force without warning. Bird’s lead performance is gut-wrenching. He has mastered the art of crying convincingly in close-up and sparks molten screen chemistry with Clausen including a steamy moment on public transport to tightly handcuff our emotional investment in Naim and Ryan’s survival against diabolical odds. Thinking straight, in every sense, denies you happiness but keeps you alive.

– Jo Planter