Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in the new film from director James Ashcroft (COMING HOME IN THE DARK) which is getting a UK cinema release this week.
During the sentencing of a case, Judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush) suffers a stroke. Soon he is in an elderly care home with the intention that once he is sufficiently rehabilitated he will be able to return home. His progress is slow but that's not the least of his problems. Long-term patient Dave Crealy (Lithgow) holds a reign of terror over the other patients with the aid of a bizarre glove puppet whom he calls Jenny Pen, and Mortensen is soon within his sights. However, Mortensen may just be a bit more than Crealy can handle.
An absorbing, tightly constructed and frequently downright disturbing piece of work, especially for anyone who might have elderly relatives resident in such an institution, with its gloomy corridors and persistent sense of menace, James Ashcroft's film at times feels like Kubrick's THE SHINING and at others like Alan Clarke's SCUM set in an old people's home.
Lithgow is terrifying as Crealy, while Rush underplays expertly as his main foil. Ashcroft's visuals cleverly illustrate the gulf between how well Rush's character believes himself to be progressing and how he is actually doing, and the film sustains an impressive intensity right up until the closing minutes. All this and the best use of the themes from Follyfoot and Van Der Valk ever in a horror film. Top stuff. Here's the trailer:
THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is out in UK cinemas on Friday 14th March 2025 from Vertigo
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