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It takes James Ashcroft’s The Rule Of Jenny Pen just a single scene to establish itself as a nasty, engulfing piece of work. Sitting at the bench at the front of a courtroom, Geoffrey Rush’s Judge Stefan Mortensen opens the film viciously berating a man found guilty of sexually violating a minor among other charges… but the criminal isn’t the only target of his scorn. Hearing the victim’s mother in the gallery whisper “thank yous” in his direction, he rejects the gratitude and instead calls her deplorable for allowing her child to be endangered – sermonizing that “where there are no lions, hyenas rule.”
The Rule Of Jenny Pen
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Directed By: James Ashcroft
Written By: James Ashcroft & Eli Kent
Starring: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, and George Henare
Rating: R for violent content including sexual assault, and some language
Runtime: 103 minutes
This would be the introduction of a villain in just about any other film, but the judge is actually our sympathetic protagonist. While that may seem like the movie giving itself an insurmountable hurdle over which to leap, it’s able to meet that challenge by eventually introducing us to the psychopathic nightmare that is John Lithgow’s Dave Crealy. Compared to Dave, the judge is a purring kitten.
The Rule Of Jenny Pen is a phenomenal exercise in character development, but that’s just one of the incredible tools that is utilized in crafting a bone-chilling cinematic experience that cuts, stuns, and leaves a scar. Phenomenal performances, unrelenting atmosphere and a tight story make it unforgettable and an early candidate to be declared the best horror movie of 2025.
The courtroom sequence described above ends when the judge suffers a debilitating stroke mid-rant and ends up being taken to Royal Pine Mews – a rest home where he hopes to rehabilitate before resuming his normal lifestyle. His venomous attitude in no way cured by his near-fatal episode, Stefan quickly alienates everyone in the facility, and he demonstrates nothing but contempt for activities and socializing. He incarcerates himself in his own bubble of misery. But then things take a sharp turn toward the extra horrible when he becomes a target of long-time resident Dave Crealy.
The staff of Royal Pine Mews treats Dave as a typical senility case, as he always has a baby puppet on his arm named Jenny Pen, and he spends much of his time in the common area hysterically laughing at anything that is playing on the television. The truth, however, is that Dave is very, very far from typical. He knows precisely what is he doing at all times, and what he loves more than anything is cruelty. He knows all the ways to get around the rest home unimpeded, and he strolls around night after night popping into rooms to practice his own special brand of psychological and physical torture.
Accustomed to authority and being in control, Stefan derides his bully at first and doesn’t take his behavior seriously, but it doesn’t take long for him to realize that he has dangerously underestimated the man, and as his health and faculties continue to deteriorate, Dave’s abuse only escalates.
The Rule Of Jenny Pen is a mind-ripper that successfully both terrifies and horrifies.
How can an elderly man explain that someone has dumped a bag of urine in his lap when the nurses think he’s probably just incontinent and embarrassed? How can he explain shin bruises are from kicks when bumping into low tables while riding in a wheelchair is equally possible? Dave is practiced in knowing the all of the buttons he can push and where he can go and when, and the end result is that he reigns over his own private hell, and it’s both brutal and fascinating. James Ashcroft’s direction and the skillful editing by Gretchen Peterson has you wincing with each spike of pain that the monster deploys – but his violence (which includes a sequence of him wrenching and tugging on a man’s catheter that will make you instinctively cross your legs) pales next to his manipulations and emotional malice.
The Rule Of Jenny Pen’s title comes from Dave’s perverse habit of demanding that his victims first recognize the “rule” of his baby puppet and then “lick her asshole,” which involves him presenting his wrist for a tongue bath. Sick as that sounds to read, it’s much worse to see play out on screen, and it’s just one of many horrible ways that Dave plays with the patients of Royal Pine Mews as he demeans, stares, steals, and spins lies. It’s diabolical and ultimately homicidal madness… so you may be able to understand at this point how Stefan becomes acceptable as a sympathetic protagonist.
And while the torture is one thing, James Ashcroft also crafts a dense and intense atmosphere that pushes all of the terror and horror to extreme heights. Not just a victim of Dave’s abuse, Stephan is trapped in a foreign environment, isolated without help, and without possession of a fully functioning mind –which is all visually communicated with unexpected framing, crafty use of depth of field and intense editing. There is clear inspiration taken from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining in the crafting of The Rule Of Jenny Pen, as Ashcroft fills Royal Pine Mews with a wicked energy reminiscent of the notorious Overlook Hotel (albeit minus elements of the supernatural).
John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush give two of most phenomenal performances of their respective careers – which is saying a hell of a lot.
The material – the script co-written by James Ashcroft and Eli Kent based on a short story by author Owen Marshall – is brilliant, and the film is cast to get the most out of it. It takes a level of bravery to take on roles like Stefan Mortensen and Dave Crealy, as audiences will never see Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow in the same way again, but it’s wholly worth it, as their turns are unforgettable.
Wretched and callous as the judge can be, Rush also provides a respectability and nobility that really keeps the audience from finding the character wholly repugnant; rude and cold as he can be, he is relatable in his fortitude to maintain his dignity. That being said, the actor also does spellbinding and powerful work when that fortitude is put under extreme stress – discovered not only when he is being violently harassed but also failing to recover following his stroke.
As for Lithgow… holy shit. Having previously seen his performance as Arthur Mitchell in the fourth season of Dexter, I was fully aware going into The Rule Of Jenny Pen that the actor was capable of going to some terribly dark places, but Dave Crealy’s evil is so potent it goes beyond human. Even the most jaded, desensitized horror fan is going to be shocked by what Lithgow does here.
It’s really an experience that needs to be felt rather than read about – and while the movie will be streaming within the year, it’s also one that is particularly great to see with an audience full of gaspers and screamers. The Rule Of Jenny Pen is the third truly great horror film that we’ve gotten so far in 2025 following Drew Hancock’s Companion and Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey and it’s must-see for any dedicated genre fan.
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