Adrian Chiarella made his debut as a writer and director with the Australian horror film "Leviticus." The film explores homophobia through a supernatural metaphor.

"Leviticus" centers on two teenage boys, Naim, played by Joe Bird, and Ryan, played by Stacy Clausen, who fall in love in a small Australian town. In the film, parents in the town engage a healer to perform a ritual intended to stop their children from being homosexual. This ritual unleashes a malevolent entity that takes the form of the boys' love interests to violently separate them. Mia Wasikowska plays Naim's mother in the film.

Chiarella stated that he was inspired to make "Leviticus" after observing a decrease in support for LGBTQ+ rights in Australia. "The idea for this film came along because I wanted to explore this idea of homophobia and what it meant to me and what it meant to so many people in our community," he said. He added, "And I think I came up with this idea that what they're really trying to do with a lot of these sorts of practices you hear about, conversion therapy and those sorts of things, is they're trying to scare us away from our feelings, away from who we are."

"[Homophobia] can take the form of people masquerading as though they care about [you], you know, 'I'm just doing this because I don't want you to get hurt by other people who might hate you,'" Chiarella said. "But that is kind of something that we found a little problematic in itself. And so I wanted to explore that, particularly with the character played by Mia Wasikowska (Naim's mother), but really all of the parents and this in the world of this film." He described the metaphor as capturing a feeling of threat from peers, institutions, parents, or teachers. He also said that some of the most difficult scenes to film were those depicting real-world homophobia.

Australian voters approved gay marriage in late 2017. Chiarella said that while the vote was won, "But it sort of. Unleashed all of this language that just never went away." Despite the challenges represented in the film, he conveyed a message of hope. "Whatever kind of scars and trauma this leaves you with, you're still able to find love," he said.

No independent assessment was available for this report.