The Rule Of Jenny Pen Review
The horrors of ageing is something cinema has tackled time and time again, from What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? And The Hunger to X, The Taking of Deborah Logan, Relic, and more recently, Oscar-winning body horror The Substance. The disintegration of our bodies, a rapidly changing society that leaves the elderly behind, and a creeping sense of death lend themselves to genre cinema, reminding us of the inevitability of time. And while James Ashcroft’s nursing home thriller The Rule of Jenny Pen doesn’t shy away from the vulnerabilities of age, it offers so much more than tried-and-tested musings on growing older.
Starring John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush, The Rule of Jenny Pen follows former judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush) who is sent to Royal Pine Mews Care Home after suffering a stroke. There, he runs into Dave Crealy (Lithgow), a psychopathic resident terrorising those within the home alongside his trusty hand puppet Jenny Pen. Dave soon turns his attention to Stefan and his roommate rugby ace Tony Garfield (George Henare), but the staff at the home don’t believe Stefan’s claims about Dave. Bewildered and enraged by everyone around him’s lack of action against Dave’s reign of terror, he takes it upon himself to put a stop to his torment.
The film never holds back in its discomfort and bleakness, from the opening scene with Stefan berating a weeping woman in his courtroom, to Dave’s shocking acts of cruelty and humiliation. Ashcroft masterfully creates a grimy tension that makes each scene feel more painful than the last, waiting for the next gruelling escalation as Stefan and Dave’s butting of heads becomes deadly. The film frequently shines a light on the suffering of those within the home, from Stefan struggling to come to with his recovery, to quick shots of residents being fed or bathed by carers. Yet these scenes never feel like they dehumanise their subject matter, rather they add a humanness to The Rule of Jenny Pen that compounds the cruelty levied towards the elderly.
Lithgow’s stint as Crealy may be one of the standout performances of his career, with his exaggerated turns as the maniacal resident carrying some of the more darkly comedic elements of the narrative. Similarly, Rush’s portrayal of the cantankerous and head-strong Stefan is remarkable, with his growing fear palpable in every scene he graces. Their characters are more alike than they’d care to it, and it’s this that makes their feud feel all the more dangerous as we hurtle towards the film’s nail-biting and disturbing climax.
Perfectly marrying its twisty, cat-and-mouse plot with a more profound exploration of the treatment of the elderly and perils of aging, The Rule of Jenny Pen is a bold and career-defining achievement for Ashcroft anchored by remarkable performances from two screen heavyweights captivating from start to finish.
★★★★ 1/2
In UK cinemas on March 14th / John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Nathaniel Lees, Thomas Sainbury, Ian Mune, Irene Wood / Dir: James Ashcroft / Vertigo Releasing / 15
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