‘Leviticus’ Photo Booth Scene, Explained: Why Ryan’s Kiss Is the Movie’s Scariest Image

Leviticus (2026) is the queer horror movie of 2026, as it explores the lengths that some people will go to stop two same-sex teenagers from loving each other. It is a scary film, but one particular moment in a photo booth truly exemplifies what this movie is about and the horrors of its “scare them straight” theme.

If you’re curious about what happens in the Leviticus photo booth scene or what this entity/monster is, read on. Here, I break down what the photo booth scene tells us about the monster and what the photo booth actually alludes to about our reality and how some communities treat LGBTQ+ people.

What Happens In The 'Leviticus’ Photo Booth Scene?

After outing Ryan to his family and the church, leading to Ryan being cursed by this entity, Naim feels guilty and goes looking for Ryan. When Naim gets to Ryan’s house, he finds Ryan in the backyard talking to someone that Naim can’t see. It becomes apparent that something is wrong when Ryan walks into his house and out the front door with this invisible person.

Concerned, Naim follows Ryan to a building next door that looks like a roller rink. He looks for Ryan and doesn’t see him anywhere. That’s when Naim hears noises coming from the photo booth. When the photos appear, Naim grabs them and sees that Ryan is sharing an intimate moment with something invisible or that only Ryan can see. 

Suddenly, there are sounds of a struggle inside the photo booth, and Naim pulls the curtain back. He sees Ryan pressed against the wall of the photo booth, the indentation of fingers around his throat. Naim reaches forward to help, and some sort of force throws him back, and the attack stops. Ryan stumbles out, terrified. When Naim tries to help him, Ryan looks scared and tells Naim to stay away from him.

Why Can’t Naim See What Ryan Sees?

As to why Naim can’t see the entity that is hurting Ryan, the answer is two-fold. Naim can’t see the entity because he hasn’t been cursed yet by the church via a ritual. Secondly, even after Naim is cursed, he wouldn’t see what Ryan sees. After you’re cursed, you see the thing that you desire the most. Ryan desires Naim the most, so he’s going to see Naim. And when Naim is cursed, he’s going to see Ryan, the thing he desires the most. It’s a solitary punishment.

For the audience, the photo booth scene is the tipping point where you truly come to understand that Ryan isn’t simply avoiding Naim. There’s a malicious entity testing him and his desires as a form of conversion therapy, where if he gives in to his desires for another guy, he gets punished for it. But for Naim, he’s shocked and confused, thinking that Ryan might be slipping into madness.

What The Photo Booth Reveals About The Monster

When it comes to how this monster or entity operates in Leviticus, intimacy and desire are key because it’s not just going to attack you for funsies. It uses your own memories and desires to craft a form that is enticing to the one being punished for having queer feelings. The more that you explore your sexuality or your desires, the better this entity gets at mimicking the one you desire the most. That’s why Ryan and Naim fall for the entity over and over. It feels real.

In the photo booth, Ryan thought he was sharing a quiet and intimate moment with Naim. Away from prying eyes, Ryan could give in to the desire that he felt for Naim, even after the wild ritual that the church put him through to get him to fall in line. But the entity uses that comfort and joy you feel for another person to draw you in before punishing you. So, in a way, it tries to trick the person cursed to associate their “not pure” thoughts for the same sex with violence instead of joy, honesty, and love.

Why The Photo Booth Scene Is About Jealousy As Much As Horror

The most controversial part of Leviticus is the fact that Naim is the one who tells the pastor about what is happening between Ryan and his son Hunter. It’s a betrayal that leads to Ryan being put through the ritual and cursed along with Hunter. Naim telling the pastor is also grounded in telling a trusted adult that, “Hey, Ryan and Hunter are hurting each other by throwing rocks at each other as punishment for their feelings.” But it’s also about jealousy.

Naim thought the experience he was sharing with Ryan was unique and something they were only exploring with each other. And it’s ignorance on Naim’s part that they’re the only two queer kids in this town. So yes, Naim was jealous that Ryan was sharing something passionate, even if violent, with someone else. And that jealousy wrapped with concern is what led Naim, later, to follow Ryan to the roller rink and wait for those photos to drop outside of the photo booth instead of confronting Ryan about who he was with.

Little does Naim know that the jealousy he’s feeling is for naught because there’s no one else in that booth with Ryan. Instead, he’s with a manifestation of Ryan’s own desires for Naim himself. And those desires being weaponized against Ryan are the real monster in this story.

Why The Photo Booth Is Scarier Than The “Deep Throat” Gore

Later on in Leviticus, the entity attacks Naim in his home, and its strength has visibly increased the more in touch Naim is with his sexuality. While wearing Ryan’s face, the entity holds Naim against the wall and starts putting its arm into Naim’s mouth as if it were going to possess him and punish him from the inside out. 

On the surface, this “deep throat” attack seems like the scariest bit of the movie. But it’s not. It might be the goriest moment. However, it’s not the scariest. That honor goes to the photo booth scene. I’d argue that it’s the scariest because when the entity attacks Naim in his home, we already know that this is the danger these two boys should be watching out for. During the photo booth scene, we don’t know. 

Here, we’re still on the line of this being a regular ol’ drama before plunging headfirst into supernatural terror. The fact that the movie uses familiar faces, not some hideous creature to attack Ryan and Naim, makes it so we connect to the scene even more. Because in the real world, other humans are the real danger and the thing that your parents warn you about, not supernatural monsters.  

How The Photo Booth Scene Connects To 'Leviticus' Queer Horror

The photo booth scene in Leviticus is a snapshot moment of the terror of conversion therapy told through a queer horror lens. The entity is expertly crafted from Ryan’s memories to be the thing he desires the most, aka Naim. When he gets close to it, it attacks him, messing with Ryan’s sense of self. But it also makes him question his reality and makes it so he associates his queer feelings for another boy with violence and pain. 

Everything that comes after in Leviticus reinforces this lesson that nothing good can come from exploring feelings for Naim. But it’s the photo booth scene that opens Naim’s and the viewer's eyes to how this “puritanical” community would rather punish their own flock with pain instead of trying to understand what Naim and Ryan are feeling. 

This realization adds a layer of sadness to a scene where Ryan thought he was just kissing the boy, who made him laugh and light up like everything was going to be okay in the world. He wasn’t. The ones who cursed him stole that from him as a means of control in the hope they would literally “scare him straight.”