LEVITICUS: Neon Announces Theatrical Date for Aussie Queer Horror

Here is NEON doing what NEON does best, nothing at all. It is only a theatrical date announcement for the Australian queer horror flick, Leviticus, but it is a start to build up anticipation for the Sundance hit. 

Directed with commendable straightforwardness and simplicity by Adrian Chiarella, Leviticus initially unfolds with an emphasis on Naim and Ryan’s everyday lives (school, home, church) before introducing the supernatural curse and following its increasingly violent and gory attacks. Expertly ratcheting up the tension from the first ambiguous scene set inside a poolside through the supernatural ritual//conversion therapy (and beyond), Leviticus turns homophobia, bigotry, and hatred into something frighteningly literal.

 

As metaphor, Leviticus takes It Follows’ subtext (sexually transmitted disease, among others) and replaces it with queer desire, reactionary social/political elements, and AIDS/HIV (an actual death sentence for far too many). Brilliant in its conception and even more brilliant in its execution, Leviticus belongs high on a list of queer horror and its discontents.