Leviticus

by Mike McGranaghan

Conversion therapy has been a controversial issue for a long time. Opponents say that trying to force gay people to be straight results in severe psychological harm. Leviticus imagines a scenario in which it results in physical harm, as well. Writer/director Adrian Chiarella’s debut film effectively mixes jolts with social commentary, marking it as one of the year’s most notable works of horror.

Teenage Naim (Talk to Me’s Joe Bird) and his mother Arlene (Mia Wasikowska) are new in town. He meets another local boy, Ryan (Stacy Clausen), and they become attracted to each other. Their religious parents find out, separately sending their sons to a “deliverance healer,” a religious figure who performs a mysterious ritual on them. Afterward, Naim begins seeing an entity that looks like Ryan, and Ryan begins seeing one that looks like Naim. That entity temps them into romantic behavior, then begins assaulting them. The message is clear: engage in homosexual activity and you will die.

Leviticus offers two levels of horror. The first comes from seeing the boys – and a couple other minor characters – being brutally attacked. Natural desires they cannot control become triggers for abuse. At times, we are fooled because, like Naim, we think we’re seeing the real Ryan, only to have him suddenly turn violent. Chiarella doesn’t go overboard with the blood and gore, although he provides enough to give the movie some punch.

The second, even more terrifying level, is best summed up when Ryan tells Naim, “They want us to be afraid of each other.” Both characters go through the story not knowing when they’re seeing the real version of the other or when they’re seeing their personal entity. And that absolutely does instill fear in them. Imagine not knowing if the person you’re most attracted to is real or a malevolent force seeking to punish you. Imagine having to be afraid of your own emotions. Two fictional teenage boys may be facing this scenario, but the film’s power lies in how it forces you to envision yourself in their shoes.

Leviticus, named for the chapter in the Bible that evangelicals often cite as containing language condemning homosexuality, nails a belief common to those who are homophobic, namely that instilling fear is a viable response. Gay people, in their view, can be scared into denying their true selves with the fear of going to hell; straight people can be made to believe being gay is fundamentally evil in some way. Perhaps the most disturbing scene in the whole movie comes when Arlene reveals to Naim why she took him to the deliverance healer. It’s quietly chilling.

Bird and Clausen are outstanding as the main characters, conveying the love between them just as meaningfully as they do the terror of being stalked. Thanks to their work and Chiarella’s thoughtful screenplay, Leviticus is a rare horror film that oozes compassion.

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