New Horror Movie Debuts To Rare Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score As It Nears 7-Figure Deal

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Published Jan 27, 2026, 9:34 AM EST

Abigail is an editor for ScreenRant, currently writing and editing movie news. You may also have seen her thoughts on animated television, musical theater, and fantasy literature in Paste Magazine, Fantasy Hive, or The Oxford Blue. She has also written SR lists and op-eds covering movies, TV, and books as well. She is an English major through and through, having graduated with a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara and an MPhil from Oxford University.

Audiences who are always hungry for a unique horror movie have another promising one coming soon, if the latest news from Sundance and Rotten Tomatoes is to be believed.

Leviticus premiered close to midnight on Friday at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. This is the feature directorial debut of writer-director Adrian Chiarella, which follows "Two star-crossed teenage boys [who] must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most — each other" (per festival.sundance.org). After its debut, the horror is seeing great reviews and a major distribution deal.

As of January 27, Leviticus has a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 10 critics' reviews. Among all the praise, Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting says that it is a "tense, atmospheric, and claustrophobic vision of young love in a hateful world," while multiple critics highlight the ending. Deadline also reports that "Word will be happening soon from NEON that they've secured global on […] Leviticus for seven figures."

This is a huge win for Leviticus, especially after the year NEON has had. In 2025, the distributor released an impressive number of critically acclaimed movies, some of which are now among the 2026 Oscar nominees — Sentimental Value, The Secret Agent, It Was Just an Accident, and Arco. NEON is also behind past Best Picture winners Parasite and Anora, and this proven ability to choose great films is another indicator of Leviticus' quality.

Leviticus features the comeback of Alice in Wonderland actor Mia Wasikowska, also starring Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, David McKenzie, Nicholas Hope, and Zhara Newman. No theatrical release date has been announced, but it will probably be sometime in 2026. Sundance further describes the film's themes (and clarifies which two actors are in the lead roles):

An isolated Australian small town hosts the evils of religious fanaticism and its consequences for queer youth, creating an atmosphere that's chilling and near-claustrophobic. Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen tenderly embody Naim and Ryan, magnetically attracted teens coming into their sexuality, yet facing physical and spiritual violence at every bend.

Director Chiarella previously wrote and directed shorts, including Black Lips and Dwarf Planet. If this debut indicates how the rest of the rollout for Leviticus will go, we could be seeing the emergence of another staple horror filmmaker. The Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 22 to February 1, 2026.