Interview:
Joe Bird,
star,
Adrian Chiarella,
writer/director,
"Leviticus"
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Adrian Chiarella (pictured left), the chiller Leviticus employs horror to explore small-town societal, institutional, and religious homophobia. Queer high school students Naim (Joe Bird, pictured right) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) work hard to keep their intimate relationship a secret from everyone they know, especially their parents and the small-minded members of their church congregation. When Naim and Ryan are outed, their parents force them to separately participate in a religious ceremony intended to keep them apart. Naim and Ryan soon find themselves pursued by a malevolent spirit that assumes the form of the person the stalked yearn for above all others. Leviticus also stars Mia Wasikowska as Naim’s complicit mother Arlene. Leviticus, which premiered locally during this year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival, opened June 19 in theaters. Australian actor Joe Bird impressed global audiences as the possessed teenager Riley in Danny and Michael Philippou’s 2022 supernatural chiller Talk to Me. He will next be seen in the Australian period drama Wolfram. Adrian Chiarella makes his feature-length directorial debut with Leviticus after making several short films and working in Australian television.
Aired: June 17, 2026. Web site: https://www.neonrated.com/film/leviticus |
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