{"id":1516335,"date":"2026-06-18T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?guid=43a06ba40a60096522e7eaef8393447c"},"modified":"2026-06-18T06:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:34:06","slug":"leviticus-director-star-talk-mixing-horror-with-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1516335","title":{"rendered":"‘Leviticus’ director, star talk mixing horror with romance"},"content":{"rendered":"
Joe Bird as Naim and Stacy Clausen as Ryan in 'Leviticus.' (NEON)<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Horror is the hottest ticket at the box office this summer, with films like Backrooms<\/em> and Obsession<\/em> finding success in the theaters. Joining that wave of buzzy new films in the genre is the Australian horror romance Leviticus<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>

Written and directed by Adrian Chiarella in his feature debut, the film tackles themes of homophobia through a supernatural lens.<\/p>

\u201cWhat if there was some ritual that put some seed of fear inside of its victims to make them scared of their own desires? And that's where I came up with this idea of a horror movie monster or an entity that looks like the person you're most attracted to,\u201d Chiarella tells ABC Audio of the film\u2019s premise.<\/p>

He adds, \u201cAnd once I had that, I thought, well, now I've got a horror movie, but I really want to focus on this other thing that I'm interested in, which is the love story.\u201d<\/p>

Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen star as Naim and Ryan, the two teenage boys at the center of the love story who are each forced to undergo a ritual in their devoutly Christian community with the aim of scaring them straight.<\/p>

\u201cI think the love story has to work for the horror to work,\u201d Bird says. \u201cBecause I think you've got to care about these characters and care about this relationship.\u201d<\/p>

The film was an early success at Sundance and SXSW, and reviews have been drawing comparisons to the queer hockey romance series Heated Rivalry<\/em> \u2013 with one Letterboxd review dubbing it \u201cHaunted Rivalry.\u201d Chiarella and Bird say they appreciate being mentioned alongside an impactful piece of media.<\/p>

\u201cThey're two very different things, I think, but it is exciting that there's this kind of ecosystem of queer stories that exists and that can sort of allow audiences to keep the conversation going,\u201d Chiarella says. <\/p>

Leviticus<\/em> hits theaters Friday.<\/p>