The Rule of Jenny Pen

6/10 STARS - John Lithgow has the most pinchable face when he's playing a baddie and this movie was no exception. The Rule of Jenny Pen is a new movie based on a short story written by Owen Marshall, and it tells the story of a judge who suffers a stroke and ends up in an elder-care facility. While there, he becomes aware of another resident in the home who routinely bullies and abuses the other patients. This sets up the conflict between the judge and the bully, which is the framework of the story. This movie didn't hold back from depicting the sad reality many elderly people face when they near the end of their life and are no longer able to live safely on their own. In this case, it is made even worse because of the vicious bully in their midst. It was interesting to see these two magnificent actors "facing off" against each other through their characters. Both men are masters in their profession, and it shows in this film. I do have a couple of issues with it though. One is the runtime. While it's not terribly long (the film clocks in at an hour and 43 minutes), the repetitive nature of some situations feels like it drags the movie down a touch. Second issue is that with all of the problems this bully causes, I find it hard to suspend my disbelief that his actions could go completely unnoticed by the staff, especially given how long he has been in the facility and how routinely he terrorizes the occupants. Those are rather minor complaints and not enough to detract significantly from my appreciation for this film. Video review on my YouTube channel.

A former Judge has a stroke, he enters a nursing home that occupies an elderly psychopath who is fixated on a child's puppet to abuse the elderly residents of their shared nursing home with deadly consequences. Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow gives a masterclass on acting, the story is good, but the film misses the mark on logic. Where was the security cameras, and the nursing staff on duty when all of this chaos and murder was happening? The protagonist Lithgow kept me glued to the screen & Rush also. I wanted more realism but otherwise it was en enjoyable film. A 6 out of a 10 for the acting alone.

The Rule Of Jenny Pen actually creeps me out more than the usual horror movies about possession, zombies, and/or other creeps. This story is about old people in a retiring home or care facility that are getting bullied/terrorised by one of its habitants without anybody doing something about it. I find these kind of stories creepier because it could happen to any of us, unlike other horror movies where the stories are just fantasy or far fetched and thus so far from our bed or just unreal. Nobody wants to end up in a retiring home and certainly not in this one. Geoffrey Rush did a great job playing the resistant. John Litgow showed again he can play anything, from comedy to drama, to horror. I just love that actor. In my opinion this movie from New Zealand deserves a higher rating on here.

Not sure why people are giving this such low star ratings, very disturbing movie and Lithgow genuinely makes your skin crawl with the creep factor. This isn't a jump scare or gore scare movie, but even scarier in the idea that for many of us this is what we will face when we get old. Older people get taken advantage of and are very mistreated and this just showed the even darker side to that truth. I am not a fan of horror movies WHAT SO EVER and I am glad I saw this. I will say confused on why this movie is classified as a mystery though that part confused me ? Rush's acting is very believable as well, but Lithgow is the one that takes the movie to a new level. I felt sick to my stomach and had a feeling of dread come over me about getting older, so the movie did what it set out to do. Never have I hated a character than Lithgow ( well maybe the main guy in "nightingale" ) so he makes the movie a 9/10.

Nothing amazing, but a decent little film, I thought. Better than many of the reviews here would lead you to believe. Definitely worth a watch, as long as you can suspend your disbelief about no-one having a mobile phone or there being no security cameras. Otherwise, this is original, engaging, very well acted, darkly humorous, well-shot, and thankfully not quite as grim or disturbing as I was expecting, given the subject matter - bullying in a old people's home.

It's not a supernatural horror, it's more of a dark thriller with horror elements. No gore, that I remember. Lithgow and Rush gave excellent and brave performances. Would recommend.