Neon Buying Sundance Conversion Therapy Horror Film ‘Leviticus’

Neon, the indie label behind “Parasite” and “Anora,” is inking one of the first deals of this year’s Sundance Film Festival and buying “Leviticus,” a buzzy horror film about conversion therapy. The pact hasn’t been finalized, but sources peg the sales price in the seven-figure range.

The film is the feature directorial debut of writer-director Adrian Chiarella. According to the official plot description, “Leviticus” is about “two star-crossed teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most — each other.” The cast includes Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen Jeremy Blewitt and Ewen Leslie. It premiered in the midnight section.

Critics embraced the picture, with The Guardian writing: “In many increasingly overcrowded fields – trauma horror, curse horror, gay horror, Sundance horror – ‘Leviticus’ stands tall.” Indiewire compared the film to “Heated Rivalry” and “It Follows” — the hybrid we didn’t know we wanted!

It’s been a glacial market for sales at this year’s festival, but things are finally heating up as studio executives depart Park City. Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” has sparked a bidding war, with A24 and Focus Features locked in a tense fight for the rights to the relationship comedy. “Wicker,” with Olivia Wilde, and “Josephine” with Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, are also drawing interest from buyers. But studios are being more cautious. The indie box office is in a rut and many, many Sundance movies are huge hits with festival crowds and ignored by the general public when they finally make it to theaters.

WME Independent is selling the rights to “Leviticus.”