Leviticus review
Cursed horror finds some new moves.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Leviticus
Directed by Adrian Chiarella
Written by Adrian Chiarella
Starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen and Mia Wasikowska
Leviticus Review
Cursed horror has had a pretty good run lately. Smile and its sequel were massive hits. They had more than a little in common with Ringu or The Ring…but they found a way to make things feel fresh and original. Likewise, Leviticus shares more than a little DNA with another classic cursed horror film…It Follows. But it finds a way to make things feel fresh and original in its own right. The means by which characters become cursed…and how it connects to their sexual identities…is probably the thing that will garner the most talking points…but there’s also a damned good cursed horror concept at play once Leviticus sets it loose.
Naim (Joe Bird) has recently moved to town with his mother (Mia Wasikowska). He’s having trouble making friends but does strike up a secret romance with Ryan (Stacy Clausen). When Naim sees Ryan making out with Hunter (Jeremy Blewitt) he informs Hunter’s religious father. Ryan and Hunter are forced to undergo a quick, but strange, ritual meant to rid them of their lust for each other. They instead end up cursed by a deadly entity that only they can see.
Leviticus does a great job setting the stage in its first act. Aside from an opening scene where we see a girl murdered by the unseen entity (like the opening of It Follows) you wouldn’t even know this was going to be a horror movie for the first thirty minutes or so. Sometimes…the horror just shows up. It’s one of the cool things you can do with storytelling. Writer/director Adrian Chiarella crafts a fairly engaging coming of age/queer romance drama and then upends it with a deadly curse.
Since we’re following Naim throughout the story…we can’t see what’s happening to Ryan and Hunter from their perspective. This is an incredibly cool choice that allows Leviticus to present an effective unseen horror. The boys are clearly troubled by something…and Naim quietly follows them to find out what’s going on. This is how we see attacks on each of them unfold. They’re seeing something…or someone…but we (and Naim) are seeing them interact with (and be attacked by) nothing.
Then Leviticus makes another cool choice. Naim’s mother has turned towards the town’s religious sect since arriving. When she discovers that her son is also interested in same sex relationships…she forces him to receive the ritual as well. Now we get to see things from the perspective of someone who has the curse attached to them. And it’s a really good one.
Basically, the entity takes the form of the person you desire. It comes when you’re alone…and it will attack and kill you if you can’t get away. This works from multiple perspectives. The church, and the strange man who leads the ritual, intends to make the subject terrified of the person they’re attracted to. Conversion therapy is made into a genuine curse. From the perspective of those afflicted…you can’t be alone, but you also can’t trust the person you most want to run to. It’s a Hell of a concept. And, yes, watching the entity get its hands on their target is very much like It Follows. In fact, seeing someone standing in the distance evokes similar feelings to watching someone walking towards you in that movie. But Leviticus never feels like its rehashing or repurposing someone else’s ideas. There’s simply shared DNA between cursed horror movies. Leviticus makes everything feel original…and purposeful.
There are some incredibly cool scenes between Naim and Ryan…and Naim and possibly not Ryan. Both actors are fantastic in Leviticus. Stacy Clausen gets to play both the terrified real version of Ryan…and the terrifying, deadly version that Naim sees when he’s alone. We recently saw him in the fun Netflix shark movie Thrash…and he shows some strong movie star chops in this one. Joe Bird, who you might remember from Talk to Me, does a great job as our leading man too. He plays the terror and pain of the situation well. He even manages to remain likable after his impulsive and destructive decision dooms three innocent people. That’s not easy to do.
Leviticus has some strong horror sequences. It unleashes quality gore effects when it wants to…but the best aspect of them is how strongly they tie into the character work the story is doing. The movie effortlessly combines its strong narrative beats with inventive and successful horror scenes. It even manages to find an ending that manages to fit with both. That’s not easy to do either.
Scare Value
Leviticus is a great entry into the cursed horror subgenre. It features a compelling narrative, strong lead performances and a genuinely excellent curse concept. It’s been a busy spring/early summer for horror in theaters…but you’re going to want to carve out another stop for Leviticus. If you’re a fan of cursed horror…it has some new ideas and fascinating ways to present them. Tying its curse into the fears associated with one’s sexuality turns out to be a perfect fit.
4/5
Leviticus Link
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