Title of coming-of-age supernatural horror is a reference to the third book in the Old Testament (attributed to Moses).
Anyway, writer-director Adrian Chiarella makes his feature debut.
Joe Bird - Naim Reid
Stacy Clausen - Ryan Whelan
Mia Wasikowska - Arlene Reid
Ewen Leslie - Rob
Davida McKenzie - Izzie
Nicholas Hope - Deliverance Healer
Summary
Following his father's death, Naim and his mother Arlene relocate to an evangelical Christian town in Victoria, Australia.
After Naim begins a secret romance with Ryan, Naim witnesses Ryan kissing the pastor's son Hunter, and a jealous Naim outs Ryan and Hunter to the latter's parents.
To purge Ryan and Hunter's lust, desire and indecency, the latter's parents hire a 'deliverance healer', and gay exorcism causes both to violently convulse and vomit.
When Hunter is attacked by an unseen force and subsequently killed, Naim and Ryan are tormented by an entity that can literally become 'them'.
Defile and reform
Queer version of It Follows (2014) won't win any prizes for originality, but leads embrace perilous situation with gusto and set-pieces boast admirable tension, largely because we never quite know who's who.
During a scuffle, Naim learns "Ryan" is afraid of fire, and uses this to his advantage, leaving entity to burn inside a derelict mill.
When Arlene admits she knew about the consequences of ritual, Naim abandons her at a petrol station and decides to leave town.
He meets Ryan and they board a bus together. As the vehicle drives away, Naim spots "Ryan" across the way, but shrugs shit off.
I'm not sure a sequel will happen, but anything's possible.
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