Movie Review: THE RULE OF JENNY PEN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

Posted: March 7th, 2025 / 02:12 AM

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN movie poster | ©2025 IFC Films

Rating: R
Stars: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Tony Garfield
Writers: Eli Kent and James Ashcroft, based on the short story by Owen Marshall
Director: James Ashcroft
Distributor: IFC Films
Release Date: March 7, 2025

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is quietly harrowing. The pace is deliberate and there’s almost no blood, but the setting – a New Zealand “retirement home” – is soul-bruising even before we get to its unique horror.

Judge Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush) is proud of his profession and position. But one day, as he pronounces a sentence in his courtroom, he suffers a debilitating stroke.

Determined that he will recover full mobility and be able to get back to his old life, Stefan resents everything about the facility where he is placed. This antipathy is extended to his roommate, former football star George Henare (Tony Garfield), who is none too thrilled to be stuck with Stefan.

So, things are plenty depressing already. Then we are introduced to Dave Crealy (John Lithgow) and Jenny Pen. Jenny Pen is Dave’s hand puppet, with an eyeless, plastic baby doll head and hands.

The staff think Dave has regressed to childhood and likes to play with toys. They are blissfully unaware that Dave still has his adult faculties. He stalks the halls at night, tormenting the other residents. He takes particular interest in Stefan and George.

Stefan’s plight of being trapped in his own body, accompanied by mental time lapses, is not just scary, it’s convincing. Stefan may have started off as stuffy and self-righteous, but we can’t help feeling for him.

Even more, we share his dismay at the lack of articulate company and the horrible food. Director James Ashcroft and his fellow screenwriter Eli Kent, adapted Owen Marshall’s short story, have created such a realistic nursing home that prospective viewers may be reluctant to spend time here.

In that case, viewers will be depriving themselves of Lithgow’s maniacal star turn. Equipped with contact lenses and snaggled prosthetic teeth to help things along, Lithgow makes Dave absolutely monstrous and horrifyingly credible. There’s nothing supernatural about Jenny Pen, but Lithgow uses the puppet in a way that makes our skin crawl.

When a movie is as otherwise as painstakingly lifelike as THE RULE OF JENNY PEN, we are usually invited to feel at least pity for everyone. Dave’s glee in harming the helpless is so palpable that we experience something rare in this type of drama – conscience-free hatred.

Even Stefan, who has seen his share of depravity in his years on the bench, can’t get to the bottom of what the hell is wrong with Dave. By the third act, it’s easy to accept that whatever Stefan does in response is a matter of survival.

Rush is superb in conveying Stefan’s frustration and terror. Garfield subtly and skillfully changes our perceptions of George as the film unspools.

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN won’t be for everyone, but it is an undeniably intense and immersive cinematic experience.

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