The Rule of Jenny Pen
2024 · Movie · R · 104 min · ★ 6.2 · 61% critics
After a stroke leaves him confined to a care home, a proud former judge faces a cruel resident who uses a childlike puppet to terrorize others. As the abuse escalates, he must find a way to fight back while trapped in a body that no longer works as it once did.
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Watch free on Kanopy — also streaming on AMC+, Disney+, Hulu +2 more.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 2024
- Release date
- 2025-03-07
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 104 min
- Max quality
- HD
- Critic score
- 61/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.2/10 (153 votes)
About
You may like this if you enjoy tense, uncomfortable stories about power and vulnerability, with strong performances and a bleak atmosphere; Not for you if you want light scares, tidy logic, or an easy watch, and you might also respond to Coming Home in the Dark or Gerald's Game.
Pros: strong lead performances; unsettling premise; darkly funny moments | Cons: logic gaps; repetitive scenes; uneven storytelling
Themes
- sadism
- dementia
- psychological thriller
- doll
- based on short story
- retirement community
- disturbed
- supernatural horror
- psychological horror
Awards & recognition
- Sitges Film Festival Best Actor award · 2024
Cast & crew
John Lithgow
as Dave Crealy
Geoffrey Rush
as Stefan Mortensen
Nathaniel Lees
as Sonny Ausage
Maaka Pohatu
as Dr. Neels
Tom Sainsbury
as Carer Mike
Ian Mune
as Howie Wicker
Ginette McDonald
as Sally Pile
Holly Shanahan
as Madeline Shepard
Bruce Phillips
as Peter Llewyn
Yvette Parsons
as Carer Tania
Directed by James Ashcroft