Review: The Rule of Jenny Pen -“A superb slice of compelling storytelling”

Directed by James Ashcroft
Starring Geoffrey Rush, John Lithgow, George Henare

Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush) is a judge, presiding over his court with a cold, superior air over all who come before him, both the criminals and even the families of the victims. In an opening sequence, we see him not only tearing into a criminal in the dock before him, but he then berates the mother of the victim (after she quietly repeats “thank you, thank you” after the guilty verdict), accusing her of failing in her duty to protect her child. As introductions go, it doesn’t exactly set us up to have much sympathy with Stefan, and yet it is this man we will largely follow throughout the film.

During his sentencing tirade, Stefan starts to struggle with his words, losing his thread, before collapsing. He has, in fact, suffered a stroke, right there in the courtroom, and the next we see of him, he is being moved into a care home for the elderly. He has gone from the feared and respected judge to a sad figure, now mentally and physically impaired, and alone (he appears to have no close family) among the strangers of the elderly care home. That would be upsetting for any of us – the sudden loss of independence and dignity (no longer to even still take a bath alone, requiring help for even that task now) – but for an arrogant man like Stefan it feels even worse, leading him to rebuff any friendly overtures from other residents (such as his room-mate, Tony (George Henare), or the activities designed to keep the residents entertained and diverted.

But there is much worse to come in the shape of Dave Creary (John Lithgow). Glimped at first in the background, a bedraggled-looking older man wears a child’s plastic dolly on one hand, like a glove puppet, and speaks through it (he refers to it as “Jenny Pen”). He gives every appearance of being a man lost in some form of dementia, eccentric but harmless. But he is anything but, and that dolly becomes an incredibly creepy totem.

Dave, it turns out, is not lost in mental illness, he is perfectly aware of his surroundings, and of his own desires and actions, and how exactly to move around his environment, which buttons to press, what he can get away with, how to stage things so that in the unlikely event anyone stands up and tries to tell the staff about his actions, he can make it look like they are the guilty party, shamelessly attacking a poor, demented, bewildered old man.

By night, Dave creeps around the facility, terrifying the residents, without the staff ever catching on. The others are so cowed by him they no longer put up any fight, even Stefan’s roommate Tony, a tough, former sporting star, is now too scared of this bully. Stefan, of course, will have none of it, but finds when he tries to get others to listen to his explanations of what is going on, nobody will listen to him. Added to this, his initial hope that he would only be here until he was rehabilitated is soon dashed as he learns his condition is likely to deteriorate further, and Dave knows this, gleefully explaining to him how he has watched others before him go this way, and just how much he will enjoy it.

This is simply a superb slice of compelling storytelling, drawing on elements of the horror and the thriller, and powered by having to absolutely powerhouse actors who are clearly relishing their roles and playing off one another. Frankly it’s worth the ticket just for watching Rush and Lithgow here, but director Ashcroft not only encourages such great performances from his stars, he crafts an increasingly uneasy, disturbing atmosphere, both the home itself (taking something so ordinary, mundane, almost dull, and making it into a disturbingly creepy place), and a personal sense of impending unease (Stefan’s increasingly failing faculties are depicted with some clever camera work and editing, in addition to Rush’s acting, that gives us a terrifying taste of what it is like for him as he realises he can no longer rely on his own mental acuity). Quite simply a superbly told tale, with two magnificent actors given roles they can really sink their teeth into.

The Rule of Jenny Pen is in UK cinemas on 14th March.

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN – Official Poster