The Rule of Jenny Pen – Movie Review (4/5)

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is a new psychological thriller and horror movie starring John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush. This turned out to be deeper and darker than I ever anticipated. Read our full The Rule of Jenny Pen movie review here!

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is a psychological thriller and horror movie coming out in theaters now. I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz, and it has been very well deserved. Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow (Pet Sematary 2019 remake) star in this movie.

Both are brilliant and deliver award-worthy performances!

From reading about it and watching the trailer, I expected to like this. However, I clearly had no idea what I actually had in store. This movie is much deeper and darker than I ever anticipated. The runtime is 1 hour and 43 minutes, which is mostly psychological horror!

Continue reading our The Rule of Jenny Pen movie review below. Find in it theaters on March 7, 2025.

I wasn’t that nervous – now I’m terrified!

The main character in The Rule of Jenny Pen is the very arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush), who suffers a near-fatal stroke. We see this happen in the powerful opening scene where he’s in the middle of reading the sentence of a real scumbag.

The stroke left him partially paralyzed, so while attempting to rehabilitate him, he is confined to a retirement home. While I wasn’t that nervous about getting old, watching The Rule of Jenny Pen made me terrified.

Not of getting old per se but of ending up in a place like this.

To be fair, the retirement home isn’t a bad place. It’s actually full of kind and hard-working people. They are clearly understaffed and always seem closer to running than walking, but there is no cruelty among the staff. I really appreciated this, because these people work hard.

Of course, the very arrogant Stefan does not see it this way.

From bad to absolutely dreadful

He is resistant to both the staff and his very kind and friendly roommate. Basically, he just wants to get this rehabilitation over with so he can get back to his own life again. But along comes the seemingly gentle resident Dave Crealy (John Lithgow).

Dave Crealy is not gentle, but he is damn good at working the staff. He pretends to be this wide-eyed, confused elderly gentleman around the staff. All the residents, however, know the true nature of Dave Crealy.

At night, he secretly terrorizes the retirement home. He walks around the place and enters people’s rooms to play a sadistic game called “The Rule of Jenny Pen”.

One of the scariest dolls ever

In The Rule of Jenny Pen, the title “character,” if you will, is a rather creepy hand puppet on the hand of John Lithgow’s character. It’s a dementia doll meant to help those suffering from dementia, but instead, it’s used as an instrument of pure cruelty.

The more annoying (and often disgusting) torments escalate into something downright sinister. Dave Crealy is a smart man who knows how to work the staff and uses Stefan Mortensen’s arrogance against him.

To the staff, Dave Crealy and his little hand puppet is a sweet and confused old man. Nothing Stefan Mortensen says will convince them otherwise, so it’s up to him to stop Dave Crealy’s reign of terror.

Jenny Pen may be a doll on the arm of John Lithgow’s character, but it does manage to have a life on its own somehow. It’s brilliant and absolutely terrifying. I both loved it and was scared out of my mind. Not just by the doll but by how helpless these poor elderly people were.

Most of them had their wits about them but weren’t in the best physical shape. Or they were really confused but physically fairly good. Whatever their situation, Dave Crealy used Jenny Pen just to have his own sadistic fun.

Watch The Rule of Jenny Pen in movie theaters now

James Ashcroft is the director and co-writer of The Rule of Jenny Pen. He previously directed and co-wrote Coming Home in the Dark (2021), which was enough to get me excited about this latest movie of his. Check out our review of that amazing horror-thriller here >

The co-writer of both movies is Eli Kent, and they are both based on short stories by author Owen Marshall. Not only do I need to find and read Owen Marshall’s short stories, but I also hope James Ashcroft will continue directing and co-writing adaptations of his work.

And maybe even tries his hand at some Stephen King short stories? Just saying, there is plenty to work with. Then again, working based on Owen Marshall’s stories has worked wonders so far, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Not only isn’t anything broken in James Ashcroft’s (and Eli Kent’s) work, but it’s also terrifyingly good and deliciously creepy. As a rule, you should keep your eye out for whatever James Ashcroft does next. He is one of the new horror masters.

I am so happy that IFC Films has decided to release this movie in theaters so people can experience this psychological horror in a dark theater. It will also be out on Shudder later, where you can then (re)watch it in the safety and comfort of your own home.

The Rule of Jenny Pen is out in movie theaters on March 7, 2025.

Details

Director: James Ashcroft
Screenwriters: Eli Kent, James Ashcroft
Cast: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Nathaniel Lees, Holly Shanahan