My Review of Leviticus (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Adrian Chiarella

Ryan (to Naim, re entity): "If I'm going to live with this, I don't want it to look like some other dickhead. I want it to look like you."

I feel like I've been waiting an eternity to see this one when it's only been a little over a month. I finally got to watch it yesterday and I'll admit that while I wasn't totally blown away, there's a lot to admire about this film.

The obvious being our two lead actors. Joe Bird (who I remember from Talk To Me) and Stacy Clausen turned out to be suitably cast in their respective roles of Naim Reid and Ryan Whelan. Both of these lads will likely go onto bigger things from this film.

Set in a more conservative part of Australia, the film saw Naim and his mother, Arlene (Mia Wasikowska) move to an Evangelical town in Victoria to start a new life, following the death of Naim's father. There's something of a fractured relationship with Naim and Arlene throughout the film.

Being in the town he's now in, Naim wasn't having an easy time making friends but he did form a connection with Ryan and got extremely jealous when Ryan was kissing the pastor's (Ewen Leslie) son, Hunter (Jeremy Blewitt). Naim even went as far as to out the pair, causing both Ryan and Hunter to be subjected to conversion therapy of sorts.

Outing both Ryan and Hunter also backfired on Naim because he ended up in the same camp as they did. He also got violently attacked by a possessed Ryan while Hunter became a casualty nearly halfway through the movie. Throw in some homophobic peers and Hunter's vengeful sister, Izzie (Davida McKenzie) and a Deliverance Healer (Nicholas Hope) and there's a lot for both Naim and Ryan to work through.

The strength of this film was definitely the chemistry between Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen. Both lads did a brilliant job in making their characters fully believable and their romance something to root for. Did the entity terrorising them win or was it their love that conquered all? Perhaps, it's a little from both.

- There's a fairly gruesome opening scene with unfortunate lifeguard Marnie (Tyallah Bullock) being one of the entity's first victims.

- Yes, the title of this movie does reference a certain Bible passage about homosexuality. That was the point of course.

- Standout music: 18YOMAN and tiffi's Show Me The Way.

- Chronology: Present day in an Evangelical town in Victoria, Australia.

Leviticus (2026) faltered a bit towards the end and I'm not sure I was satisfied with how it concluded the entity tbh. Saying that, how fantastic are Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen throughout the entire movie? Excellent performances and very believable chemistry. 

Rating: 7 out of 10