In Just 2 Days, New Horror Movie With A Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Finally Releases

The wait is almost over for horror fans, who have possibly heard about this weekend’s thrilling new movie that is expected to be one of the big genre hits of the year.

This new feature holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, from 55 reviews so far, as well as an 84% (equating to “universal acclaim“) on Metacritic and a 3.7/5 average on Letterboxd. Following its world premiere in January 2026 at the Sundance International Film Festival, international distribution rights were snapped up by Neon, which is its own indicator of quality after the distributor’s astounding 2025 lineup.

Last year, Neon distributed Sentimental Value, The Secret Agent, No Other Choice, It Was Just an Accident, Sirat, and Arco, as well as Best Picture winner Anora the year before. Now it has the queer horror Leviticus, the feature directorial debut of Australian filmmaker Adrian Chiarella, starring Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen, with a supporting cast of Mia Wasikowska, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, and Nicholas Hope.

Leviticus follows two teenage boys in the throes of young love, Naim (Bird) and Ryan (Clausen), who live among a conservative religious community and thus keep their relationship a secret. However, after they are discovered, their church summons a “deliverance preacher” (Hope) who claims he can “cure” them, which involves setting a demon upon them who takes the form of the person they each desire most.

Some memorable comments include Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting, who says that Leviticus is a “tense, atmospheric, and claustrophobic vision of young love in a hateful world,” while Nick Schager of The Daily Beast calls it a “confident and unnerving allegorical gem.” Other prominent critics laud the movie’s blend of social commentary and supernatural horror.

Writing for That Shelf, Pat Mullen argues: “It’s a restorative work of horror cinema that confronts the real monsters that exist in plain sight, in institutions, in relationships, and in values that make people fear themselves and their communities.” And there is praise to go around for the two leads: ScreenHub‘s Stephen A. Russell declares that “There’s an astonishing beauty in the flames of this rebuttal of ancient codes of morality that left no room for grace; Bird and Clausen are on fire here.“

Reeling Reviews’ Laura Clifford alludes to future potential, saying: “Adrian Chiarella’s feature debut may just be the best of 2026’s new voices in horror, his combination of love challenged by small town bigotry with supernatural horror like Boy Erased by way of It Follows.“ But there is no news yet on what the breakout filmmaker may be doing next.

First, Leviticus is sharing its opening weekend box office with the behemoth of Toy Story 5, as well as Girls Like Girls and The Death of Robin Hood. Leviticus stands apart as the only major new offering in the horror genre; while an original R-rated horror may historically have faced obstacles, with success stories in recent years like Weapons and excellent word of mouth, things look promising for the new release.

Leviticus will release in theaters on June 19, 2026.