Stacy Clausen

In Leviticus (2026), Stacy Clausen lets first love be pleasurable even when there is reason to fear it. His Ryan Whelan and Joe Bird’s Naim Reid are awkward and eager around each other, and neither actor makes the attraction too tidy. We felt protective of them because their pleasure in being together makes the intrusion of horror properly unwelcome. Clausen’s strongest quality here is that he gives us something to care about beyond whether his character is safe.

Horror has given him substantial work early on. His first television lead was Mapplethorpe Landis in the comedy horror series Crazy Fun Park (2023), the same year he made his feature debut as Tom Watson in True Spirit (2023). The thriller Thrash (2026), in which he plays Ron, adds to that involvement in genre films. Leviticus is the basis of our enthusiasm: its demands suit an actor who can let a frightened character want something besides a way out.

Director Adrian Chiarella gets good work from Clausen by taking the romance seriously. The boys’ attraction has urgency, but they also seem young enough to be unsure what to do with it. Chiarella’s pursuing force makes their desire dangerous, so allowing them some pleasure is important. Clausen and Bird make the cost of the community’s hostility clear without much help from the dialogue. When Chiarella’s screenplay spells it out anyway, the writing feels unnecessary rather than revealing.

We would be cautious about drawing a whole acting style from this one lead performance. Its success is shared with Bird, and the film’s late dip in tension is a reminder that convincing leads cannot do all the work. What it does establish is that Clausen can hold our interest in the people a horror film puts at risk. Start with Leviticus, but go for the boys rather than an undemanding evening of scares.