Costume designer Zohie Castellano’s pitch is simple: don’t just show the monster, hide it. In her conversation with IndieWire about Neon’s release ‘Leviticus,’ now in theaters, she describes a filmmaking approach where the horror is disguised as everyday detail. The “monsters in plain sight” concept matters because it signals something beyond spooky aesthetics. It is a deliberate design philosophy, one that treats costume as narrative infrastructure, not decoration.

That design philosophy is where the film’s impact starts. Castellano tells IndieWire about the work of hiding monsters where audiences will not expect them, then letting the viewer’s brain connect the dots later. For a release like this, the timing is everything. IndieWire frames ‘Leviticus’ as one of the best horror movies of the summer, and that matters commercially because summer is when studios and distributors are fighting hardest for attention. In that environment, subtlety is a competitive advantage. Viewers are flooded with horror content, but a wardrobe that “hides” threats creates rewatch value, word-of-mouth specificity, and a stronger sense that there is something to decode beyond the plot.

Zoom out from the set and you get an industry lesson that shows up in boardrooms and budgeting meetings: horror is not only about scare mechanics, it is about perception engineering. When Castellano focuses on hiding monsters in plain sight, she is effectively aligning production design with audience psychology. The audience sees shapes, materials, silhouettes, and textures first. Later, they re-interpret those same elements as clues. That kind of delayed recognition is exactly what makes a movie feel alive, not disposable.

It is also a smart use of genre tradition. IndieWire’s description ties the film to Australian Gothic costume sensibilities, and “Gothic” is the keyword that helps explain the mood. Gothic is typically about atmosphere, history, and symbols that carry emotional weight. “Yearning as vast as the Outback,” as IndieWire’s original framing puts it, suggests the costumes are built to hold space for longing, isolation, and scale. In business terms, that is brand cohesion. A distributor like Neon does not just sell tickets. It sells a distinctive viewing experience. When costume design supports the film’s emotional thesis, it strengthens the entire positioning, from trailers to festival buzz to streaming conversion.

Now, let’s talk incentives, because the theater window is a very particular economic moment. IndieWire says ‘Leviticus’ is a Neon release now in theaters. That timing implies an incentive to drive opening attention quickly and then extend tail performance through distinctiveness. Costuming can do that in a way marketing teams love because it gives them concrete images to attach to the story. A “hidden monster” visual system is not generic. It is specific. That specificity can become a hook for social clips, review language, and influencer coverage, all of which can influence downstream revenue after the initial theatrical burst.

There is also a creative risk embedded in Castellano’s approach. Hiding monsters “in plain sight” means the film cannot rely only on jump scares. It has to communicate meaning through craft. For production leadership, that is a reminder that quality is not just about talent, it is about coordination. Costume, production design, and direction have to speak the same visual language. If they do not, the audience cannot decode the clues, and the “plain sight” trick becomes noise instead of suspense.

Regulation and classification are the other invisible layer executives track. Horror films often face scrutiny around ratings, violence, and thematic content. While IndieWire’s piece does not cite any ratings decision or compliance requirement, the underlying reality is that distribution planning depends on classification outcomes. Costume design can influence what gets perceived as threatening or graphic. Even when the actual content remains within allowable limits, the way imagery is crafted can affect viewer interpretation. The more psychologically oriented and symbol-driven the horror feels, the more likely it is to land with broader audiences, depending on the final rating.

Second-order implications for peers are clear. If you are a founder, investor, or operator building a film slate, productized audience memory is the goal. Castellano’s work, as IndieWire describes it, is the kind of craft that makes viewers remember details, not just scenes. That memory translates into marketing leverage, media coverage depth, and potentially stronger retention when the movie eventually reaches additional platforms.

In short, IndieWire’s focus on Zohie Castellano offers a high-signal takeaway for anyone funding or scaling narrative experiences: “hiding monsters in plain sight” is not just a cute creative line. It is a design strategy for attention, meaning, and re-interpretation. And for a Neon horror release like ‘Leviticus,’ now in theaters, that strategy is one reason the film is positioned as a standout of the summer.