What actually happens
A new town with firm opinions about everyone in it
After his father dies, Naim Reid and his mother Arlene move to a small town in Victoria where the locals are devout evangelicals. Naim meets a local teenager named Ryan Whelan and starts a secret romance with him. Then Naim sees Ryan kissing the pastor's son, Hunter, and in a fit of jealousy he outs the two of them to Hunter's parents. It is a spiteful move, and everything that follows comes out of it.
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A healer with a very confident method
Hunter's parents bring in a healer who specializes in deliverance, to cleanse the boys of their desires with a gay exorcism. This is the scene to brace for, and it comes early. Ryan and Hunter convulse, vomit and scream throughout the ritual. It's loud and upsetting. Afterwards Naim tries to make amends with Ryan, who has become withdrawn and brushes him off. Naim sees Ryan talking to empty air and trails him to the roller rink, where a photo booth prints pictures of Ryan kissing an invisible figure. Naim pulls back the curtain and finds an unseen force strangling Ryan. Ryan gets free and screams at Naim to keep away from him.
A detective who files this under nothing
Naim goes looking for Hunter and sees an invisible force grab Hunter and drag him off. Hunter's severed head is later found in a field. Terrified for Ryan, Naim tells a detective about their relationship and pleads with her to put a stop to the entity. She brushes him off and tells Arlene about the relationship instead. Hoping to protect Naim from hatred, Arlene books the same healer to put him through the ritual. At Hunter's wake, Naim talks to Ryan outside, and they kiss, until Ryan starts attacking him violently. When Naim gets home and finds Ryan inside, he realizes the attacker was not the real one. Hunter's sister Izzie tells them about a girl named Marnie from a nearby town, who died after she and her girlfriend Jessica went through the ritual.
Rules of the entity, as explained from a hospital
Naim and Ryan visit Jessica in the hospital. She tells them the entity appears as whoever its victim wants most, only shows up when the victim is alone, gets stronger over time, and cannot be stopped. The entity then attacks Ryan in the school bathroom and mutilates his ear. Naim tells Ryan he is going to skip town and asks him not to come along. Ryan answers that if the entity is going to follow them forever, he doesn't want it to look like anyone but Naim. Blaming the two of them for her brother's death and her father leaving, Izzie gets them to come to an abandoned car park, supposedly to help them find the healer. A group of teens who bully Ryan show up to attack them, and Izzie tells everyone it was Naim who outed Hunter and Ryan. Ryan beats the attackers back and gets Naim away, then tells him he never wants to see him again.
A lighter and a derelict mill
While Naim is home alone, the entity tries to get into the house. Ryan shows up at the back door, apparently running from it too, and the two reconcile. Then "Ryan", who is actually the entity, smashes through the screen door and goes after Naim. Naim holds it off with a lighter, and the entity follows him into a derelict mill. He sets the mill on fire with the entity trapped inside, and it is the only plan in the movie that gets the details right. Soon afterwards the real Ryan disappears, and Naim is afraid that he has killed him by mistake.
The ending, explained
Authorities report finding nothing of Ryan in the burned mill. Arlene admits she knew what the ritual would do, but says she did what was necessary to keep Naim alive. Hurt and betrayed, Naim leaves her at a petrol station and heads for the bus stop to get out of town. He finds Ryan there, who is leaving too, and they get on the bus as a pair. As the bus pulls away, Naim sees the entity outside and chooses to ignore it.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Leviticus scary?
Yes, Leviticus is a 6 out of 10. It is mostly slow dread about an entity that takes the form of someone you love, with a jump scare around the middle and some cruel human behavior in the conversion ritual scenes.
How does Leviticus end?
Naim burns down a mill with the entity trapped inside, and Ryan turns up alive. They leave town together on a bus while the entity is still outside the bus, which Naim chooses to ignore.
Does the dog die in Leviticus?
No dog dies in Leviticus. A snake with a live frog in its mouth appears near the start.
Is there a post-credits scene in Leviticus?
No. Leviticus has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What is the entity in Leviticus?
In Leviticus the entity appears as whoever its victim wants most. According to Jessica it only appears when the victim is alone, grows stronger over time, and cannot be stopped.
