The Rule of Jenny Pen

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The Rule of Jenny Pen

R

2025

1h 43m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

110 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

50+ Verified Ratings

Arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen suffers a near-fatal stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed and confined to a retirement home. Resistant to the staff and distant from his friendly roommate, Mortensen soon clashes with seemingly gentle resident Dave Crealy who secretly terrorizes the home with a sadistic game called "The Rule of Jenny Pen" while wielding his dementia doll as an instrument of cruelty. What begins as childish torment quickly escalates into far more sinister and disturbing incidents. When Mortensen's pleas to the staff go unanswered, he takes it upon himself to put an end to Crealy's reign of terror.

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Critics Consensus

John Lithgow's frighteningly unhinged performance reigns over The Rule of Jenny Pen, a nasty chiller that's by turns monotonous and haunting.

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Leigh Singer

Sight & Sound

Nov 5, 2025

Rush and Lithgow are clearly committed, one splenetic with frustration and fear, the other thrumming with beady-eyed malevolence. But their duel is largely one-note, shorn of psychological nuance or clashing worldviews.

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Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

May 9, 2025

A mess. From one scene to the next, you think "This doesn't make any sense."

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Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (LAist)

May 9, 2025

Slow and creeps along. Setting a movie in a senior home with mostly infirm and incapacitated people can be dicey, and it takes a special kind of film to make that anything other than bleak.

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Grant Hermanns

Screen Rant

Feb 12, 2026

8/10

With the film oscillating between a darkly humorous take on aging to a genuinely unsettling psychological thriller, it's important to have actors who navigate that tightrope well, and Ashcroft couldn't have chosen better than when casting John Lithgow.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Nov 16, 2025

2.5/4.0

A sublime example of two top-notch actors elevating their material.

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Caitlin Kennedy

Simply Cinema (Substack)

Sep 24, 2025

6/10

The Rule of Jenny Pen takes the inherent creepiness of nursing homes to its most horrifying conclusion, squeezing every drop of helplessness out of the narrative.

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MickiW

Mar 26, 2025

John Lithgow is so sadistic with these elderly people, I felt bad for them. He got his in the end.

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Trevor

Mar 20, 2025

Could of been so terrifying,, but it missed the mark. I would have like a little backstory about the Doll and why the dude from 3rd rock from the sun was so obsessed with it. It could have been a little darker. But great story but not very believable because why didn't this place have any security present? Anyway I paid 20 dollars to see this movie. It was worth 10 or 12

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kristina l

Mar 12, 2025

Very strange movie. Doesn't really have a good story line to follow. The guy is just weird.

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simon

Mar 12, 2025

John lithgow did a phenomenal job in this movie. But the plot was pretty lame and the movie just dragged on too long to actually get to the point. if you are looking for a psychological thriller that will put you on the edge of your seat this isn't it, it will just put you to sleep.

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Joel H

Mar 11, 2025

Jenny Pen is a comedy. Unfortunately, nobody was laughing.

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Andrew D

Mar 10, 2025

This movie is not about a possessed hand puppet, but about a crazy bully at a nursing home. John Lithgow plays his part perfectly! Good stuff!

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James Ashcroft

Director

John Lithgow

Dave Crealy

Geoffrey Rush

Judge Stefan Mortensen

Nathaniel Lees

Sonny Ausage

George Henare

Tony Garfield

Thomas Sainsbury

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Synopsis

Arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen suffers a near-fatal stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed and confined to a retirement home. Resistant to the staff and distant from his friendly roommate, Mortensen soon clashes with seemingly gentle resident Dave Crealy who secretly terrorizes the home with a sadistic game called "The Rule of Jenny Pen" while wielding his dementia doll as an instrument of cruelty. What begins as childish torment quickly escalates into far more sinister and disturbing incidents. When Mortensen's pleas to the staff go unanswered, he takes it upon himself to put an end to Crealy's reign of terror.

Director: James Ashcroft
Producer: Catherine Fitzgerald, Orlando Stewart
Screenwriter: James Ashcroft, Eli Kent
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Light in the Dark Productions, Blueskin Films
Rating: R (Some Language|Sexual Assault|Violent Content)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 7, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 28, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA): $255.0K
Runtime: 1h 43m

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