Joe Bird

Joe Bird makes the attraction in Leviticus (2026) awkward and urgent without forgetting that falling for someone can be a pleasure. As Naim Reid, opposite Stacy Clausen’s Ryan Whelan, he gives us a reason to resent every intrusion of the horror. We felt protective of the boys because the two actors make their wish for time together so convincing. Bird is worth following for this: he can make a young character vulnerable without asking us to spend the whole film pitying him.

The small role in Rabbit (2017) and television work in First Day (2020–2022) came before his breakthrough as Riley in Talk to Me (2023). Riley is Jade’s younger brother, and directors Danny and Michael Philippou use that youth to make the film’s dangers harder to dismiss. Aaron McLisky’s handheld photography keeps close to the participants’ faces, while Geoff Lamb’s cuts to their phones show how readily a dangerous dare becomes entertainment. The game looks like a good night among friends, which is part of the trouble. Bird’s vulnerability makes that casual atmosphere uncomfortable.

After Warwick Thornton’s drama Wolfram (2025), Bird took the lead in Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus. That is the more revealing part for us. The attraction has to sustain our interest between the scares, and Bird and Clausen are persuasive enough that those stretches need no apology. Chiarella’s dialogue is less reliable: it sometimes explains the damage done by the community’s hostility after the actors have made it clear. We would rather he trusted them to carry those scenes.

There are limits to what these parts tell us. Much of Bird’s work has asked him to play young people under threat, and two effective horror performances are not evidence that he can do everything. Neither film is flawless: Talk to Me loosens its grip late on, and Leviticus also loses some tension. Start with Leviticus for the romance; anyone chiefly after a few easy jumps should choose something else.