‘Obsession’ Star Michael Johnston Crashes ‘Leviticus’ TikTok As Horror Declares It’s Officially Back
Horror is having its biggest cultural moment in years, and summer 2026 has made that impossible to ignore. From indie darlings electrifying critics at Sundance to shoestring-budget sensations dismantling box office expectations, the genre is dominating multiplexes and social media feeds in equal measure.
That momentum has been built largely on the shoulders of two back-to-back breakout releases. ‘Obsession’, the supernatural thriller written and directed by Curry Barker, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before a wide theatrical release on May 15, 2026, and has since grossed $294.2 million worldwide on a reported budget of just $750,000. Waiting in the wings to carry that energy into late June is Neon’s ‘Leviticus’, the debut feature from Australian writer-director Adrian Chiarella, which follows two gay teenagers tormented by a violent supernatural entity summoned by their homophobic religious community, one that takes the form of the person they desire most.
The sense of a shared horror moment spilled into social media with a Neon TikTok challenge built around the declaration that “horror is so back.” ‘Obsession’ star Michael Johnston jumped into the clip alongside ‘Leviticus’ leads Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen, with Johnston reacting to four prompts including supportive, sarcastic, flirty, and excited, all while standing in front of a ‘Leviticus’ poster. It is exactly the kind of cross-title, genre-solidarity moment that horror fans have been eating up this season.
Johnston, who is gay, stars in ‘Obsession’ as Baron “Bear” Bailey, a hopeless romantic whose supernatural wish goes catastrophically wrong. The success of ‘Obsession’ has raised his profile considerably, with the actor recently signing with Gersh after the film continued breaking box office records. His willingness to publicly champion ‘Leviticus’ ahead of its opening weekend adds a genuine warmth to the promotional moment rather than a purely transactional feel.
‘Leviticus’ has earned a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes alongside an 84% on Metacritic and a 3.7 out of 5 average on Letterboxd. The film secured the blessing of Frank Ocean, who gave the filmmakers the right to use his song “Self Control,” an especially fitting touch for a story about queer longing set against religious repression. Critics have praised both the supernatural craft and the performances at its center, with Benjamin Lee of The Guardian describing it as “a haunting and innovative horror film” and noting the “genuine chemistry between leads Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen.”
Director Chiarella has spoken candidly about the weight of releasing a queer horror film in the current climate. Speaking to IndieWire, he said the regression of LGBTQ rights around the world makes him “a little anxious” about releasing a film like this, but equally excited because “we need more of these kinds of stories,” adding that it’s been a while since an Australian film with a queer love story at its heart opened this wide in his own country.
Neon acquired worldwide distribution rights to ‘Leviticus’ out of Sundance for a reported $5 million, with the June 19 release date timed to coincide with Pride Month. Whether it can replicate the seismic commercial run of ‘Obsession’ remains to be seen, but between the critical groundswell and a TikTok challenge that is already pulling in fans from both films, the horror genre’s summer reign is looking very secure indeed.
Let us know in the comments whether you are heading to theaters for ‘Leviticus’ this weekend and which of those four TikTok reactions describes you best.
