{"id":499256,"date":"2026-06-18T15:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/499256\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T15:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:27:10","slug":"leviticus-writer-director-adrian-chiarella-reimagines-exorcism-as-a-weapon-of-queer-erasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/499256\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLeviticus\u201d Writer\/Director Adrian Chiarella Reimagines Exorcism as a Weapon of Queer Erasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

June, the symbolic start of Gay Pride in the U.S., is upon us, and so is the release\u00a0of\u00a0Neon<\/a>\u2019s gay-themed horror film\u00a0Leviticus\u00a0in major markets (premieres on June 19). The film is the brainchild of Australian writer\/director Adrian Chiarella and is co-produced by Causeway Films, the outfit behind Australian-import horror classics The Babadook and Talk to Me<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The timing resonates. \u201cIn Australia\u2014and I guess over here in the U.S.\u2014we sort of saw this regression in the rights for the LGBTQIA+ people, and a lot of homophobic rhetoric in the political space as well,\u201d Chiarella says while doing press in L.A., \u201cAnd that\u2019s sort of what inspired Leviticus.\u201d <\/p>\n

Set in a creepy rural, industrial Australian Christian community, Leviticus tells the story of two teenagers, Ryan (Joe Bird, the possessed youth in Talk to Me) and Naim (Stacy Clausen), who secretly begin a relationship. When Naim\u2019s and then Ryan\u2019s homosexuality is discovered, both are subjected to harrowing exorcism-style rituals to rid them of their sinful inclinations. For each boy, the exorcism unleashes a terrifyingly violent demon that no one else can see and takes the form of the person that they each most desire \u2013 for Ryan, that\u2019s Naim, and for Naim, that\u2019s Ryan. It\u2019s a diabolical, forbidden love story.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leviticus reads as a pointed critique of the trauma and violence that conversion therapy, often religious in nature, inflicts on queer people and, more generally, of attempts at queer erasure. However, first and foremost,\u00a0Leviticus is a peep-through-your-fingers horror film.\u00a0A lifelong horror fan, Chiarella took pains to both follow recognizable tropes of the genre and reinvent them. <\/p>\n

One of those tropes is the idea of a transgression\u2014say, building a condo on an ancient indigenous burial ground\u2014that unleashes unspeakable, supernatural violence and mayhem on the transgressors. In his Leviticus script, Chiarella ingeniously intertwines multiple possibilities.<\/p>\n

Leviticus\u2019 transgression could be the main characters\u2019 homosexuality, point blank, or the simple fact of their sexual fumblings. Or the transgression could be the moment in which Ryan, in a fit of jealousy, betrays Naim and sets off the chain of \u201cexorcisms.\u201d Or the transgressors are the parents and the religious leaders who traumatize the boys with their savage form of \u201ctherapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Joe Bird in \u201cLeviticus.\u201d Courtesy NEON.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best horror movies in my mind are the ones where that transgression is a little bit of a grey area. It becomes a tension of, \u2018Well, who did the thing that caused all of this to happen?\u2019 \u201d Chiarella says.<\/p>\n

That multiplicity of possibilities creates a giddily disorienting sense of not knowing who, why, or how characters might ultimately be punished. In the writing process, that disorientation applied to Chiarella himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took me forever to find the ending. I had endings that were quite sad, endings that were overly sweet and happy. That took many drafts to figure out,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Chiarella\u2019s script also upends the horror trope of exorcism itself. When he set out to write Leviticus, he knew he wanted to explore the idea of conversion therapy as exorcism.<\/p>\n

However, he says, \u201cEverything I came up with seemed to perpetuate this myth that conversion therapy groups were putting out there, that there\u2019s a gay demon inside of you. And so I started developing what I really thought was happening, which is actually they\u2019re planting something, a demon inside of these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Davida McKenzie in \u201cLeviticus.\u201d Courtesy NEON.<\/p>\n

This savvy reframing of exorcism allows Chiarella to make both a pointed political statement about conversion therapy and also push the boundaries of queer cinematic representation in horror. Queer relationships in horror are nearly always coded, not literal \u2013 think Interview with a Vampire. In slashers, only straight teen characters get to have all the bloody fun. In Leviticus, actual human gay boys face off with conversion demons from hell. <\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I noticed that American horror movies were always about sex,\u201d Chiarella says. \u201cIn some way or another, there was always that trope of, as soon as someone had sex, they were doomed to die. I did want to tap into that, but just bring that queer spin to it. I think that was a really important ethos of the process.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"L-r: Stacy Clausen and Joe Bird in \u201cLeviticus.\u201d Courtesy Neon.<\/p>\n

While a deep horror-concept ingenuity anchors Chiarella\u2019s storyline, the notable economy of his characters\u2019 dialogues intensifies the film\u2019s moment-by-moment ratcheting up of tension, a testament to the years he spent honing his craft. Chiarella has been writing and directing shorts for more than a decade, while also writing and directing for Australian TV. <\/p>\n

For all the complexities of plot, supernatural and otherwise, Leviticus\u2019 characters\u2019 dialogues tend to be short, even choppy, in keeping with the characters\u2019 confusion and sense of urgency. The evolution of Ryan and Naim\u2019s relationship comes as much from horrified observation and soulful exchanges of eye contact as from actual conversations. <\/p>\n

Chiarella worked to tame his natural wordiness. \u201cI look at other filmmakers\u2019 stuff, and I think, \u2018How did they get away with that line?\u2019 If I put that in there, everyone would be telling me to take it out,\u201d he says good-humoredly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now he prides himself on his minimalism. \u201cI\u2019m always questioning, what\u2019s the least amount of words we can get away with. It\u2019s like a game, right? What if we take this out and this out and this out? That is something that I\u2019m very, very conscious of all the way through to the end of the edit. I think it\u2019s become something of my style.\u201d <\/p>\n

Leviticus played widely on the film festival circuit\u2014including as a notable standout of the Sundance Film Festival\u2019s midnight slate\u2014and Chiarella had the gratifying experience of meeting survivors of conversion therapy who said the film reflects what they went through. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey shared this idea of trying to explain how they felt or how they identified to their parents and their community, and just no one believing them, and that was the hardest part,\u201d Chiarella says. \u201cThey said they really connected with this rule of the monster in our film that no one else could see. They felt that part of the metaphor was really capturing something in their experience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Featured image: L-r: Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen in \u201cLeviticus.\u201d Courtesy Neon.<\/p>\n

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