The Rule of Jenny Pen poster

2025·104 min·Released

The Rule of Jenny Pen

Horror
Thriller

Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child's puppet to abuse the home's residents with deadly consequences.

6.2(160 votes)

Popularity3

Videos

Official US Trailer

Cast & Crew

John Lithgow

John Lithgow

Dave Crealy

Geoffrey Rush

Geoffrey Rush

Stefan Mortensen

Nathaniel Lees

Nathaniel Lees

Sonny Ausage

Maaka Pohatu

Maaka Pohatu

Dr. Neels

Tom Sainsbury

Tom Sainsbury

Carer Mike

Ian Mune

Ian Mune

Howie Wicker

Ginette McDonald

Ginette McDonald

Sally Pile

Holly Shanahan

Holly Shanahan

Madeline Shepard

Bruce Phillips

Bruce Phillips

Peter Llewyn

Yvette Parsons

Yvette Parsons

Carer Tania

Irene Wood

Irene Wood

Olive Shaw

Hannah Lynch

Hannah Lynch

Carer Joy

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SteveForsing

Written on 3/11/2025

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that this showed up at the local Regal. I figured I was going to have to wait and rent it. That being said, after you leave the moviehouse and think about what you just watched, you're going to be immediately fucked up. It's been a minute since I watched something that really is equal parts, depressing, vile, sinister and diabolically funny all at the same time. Thankfully, James Ashcroft is able to get two legends together in Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow. The result is an early horror favorite of the year.

SteveForsing

Written on 3/15/2025

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that this showed up at the local Regal. I figured I was going to have to wait and rent it. That being said, after you leave the moviehouse and think about what you just watched, you're going to be immediately messed up. It's been a minute since I watched something that really is equal parts, depressing, vile, sinister and diabolically funny all at the same time. Thankfully, James Ashcroft is able to get two legends together in Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow giving their all. The result is an early horror favorite of the year.

Brent Marchant

Written on 4/27/2025

Fewer moviegoing experiences are more frustrating than watching a film in which the creators have no clear vision for what they’re trying to say. Regrettably, such is the case with this second feature offering from writer-director James Ashcroft. When a revered judge (Geoffrey Rush) suffers a stroke, he’s moved to what has to be the most ineptly run convalescent home in New Zealand to undergo rehabilitation. While there, however, he – like many of the facility’s other residents – becomes the target of taunting and abuse by another patient (John Lithgow), a manic dementia case who menaces them with a macabre hand-held puppet he calls Jenny Pen, the one who he contends rules over everyone housed at the home. When the judge protests, though, he’s summarily ignored and called delusional by the utterly clueless staff, an aspect of the narrative that’s wholly implausible and undermines the credibility of whatever the story is supposed to represent. That’s made worse by a meandering story that seems to vacillate between presenting a straightforward tale of elder abuse and floating the possibility that the judge may indeed be suffering from his own internal delusions now that he’s trapped in his own stroke-afflicted body. That kind of purposeful ambiguity might have worked better if it had been employed more skillfully, but, as it stands, that uncertainty is never properly developed. And, as the film plays out, it grows progressively more unbelievable and disjointed, leaving viewers wondering what’s truly supposed to be going on. What’s more, this offering is laughingly billed as a horror flick, but there’s virtually nothing the least bit scary about it; it instead languishes in the realm of a modest (though largely unfocused and unengaging) psychological thriller. To its credit, the film incorporates some searing comic relief in the form of witty, pointed one-liners (mostly delivered by Rush), and the two leads struggle mightily to elevate this cinematic mess into something more respectable. But even their considerable talents – no doubt a casting choice aimed at providing a touch of class to a production unworthy of it – are not enough to salvage this woefully undercooked project. Please, do yourself a favor and don’t waste your time or money on this one.

Media

Official US Trailer

Official US Trailer

Teaser Trailer

Teaser Trailer

Official Trailer

Official Trailer