The Rule of Jenny Pen
“Life is precarious, happiness is fragile, triumph and disaster are only a random incident apart.” — Owen MarshallReal-life Horror Often Overlooked
It may seem slightly out of character for IFP to review a film about old men in a care home, but stick with me. In its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is a psychological thriller that follows Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush), a respected judge who begins a new life in a residential care center when he has a stroke. There, he meets what seems to be an oddball group of elderly residents, each with their own strange quirks. The strangest of all is Dave Crealy, who, as one resident remarks, is one of those who has been given a doll (in this case, a terrifyingly eyeless puppet named Jenny Pen) as a comfort, like a child.
With exacting empathy, the film showcases the loss of humanity — both psychologically and physically — that often occurs when people are cared for by the thinnest margins. Set in New Zealand, the film fictionalizes what is a real-life horror for those shunted into under-resourced aged care centers, where oversight is small and accidents are ignored. We forget that the aged are often one of the largest populations of marginalized people today, and Indigenous elderly are often at the highest risk for abuse. Like many countries, New Zealand struggles to care for its aged, who make up 20% of its population. 38% of people over 65 die in care centers, and the situation has been called a human rights crisis, with several high-profile incidents gaining national attention. The film is set during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which feels like a fitting choice given how many people in aged care were particularly at risk.
As someone who has watched a loved one go through the stress of entering a nursing facility, I was struck by how carefully the film addresses the specific horrors that can occur. Horror is uniquely situated to comment on the realities of our world with empathy. The film does a fantastic job exploring the terror of dementia and illness: Loss of bodily autonomy, memory gaps, and, most importantly, the infantilization and disbelief people who cannot control their bodies often face. It quickly becomes clear that the residents are not strange because they are strange — they are doing everything they can to survive.
In the case of THE RULE OF JENNY PEN, this horror is exacerbated as the puppet-handed Crealy terrorizes the residents. Lithgow’s performance here is delightfully creepy, heightened by the interjection of surrealist elements. At times, the doll becomes larger than life, looming in the background, forcing the audience to look into her eyeless sockets and fall under her judging gaze.
This sounds quite bleak, but the film does a good job of pairing humor with pain while still not making fun of the characters. It is Māori actor George Henare who steals the show as Garfield, Mortensen’s friend and roommate. A former football player, he has, in his mind, lost his honor by submitting to Crealy’s abuse. The absolute best scene of the film shows Garfield attempting to perform the Haka, a traditional war dance, but struggling as his voice and body fail him.
Based on a Short StoryTHE RULE OF JENNY PEN is based on a short story by New Zealand author Owen Marshall, who also worked with director James Ashcroft on Coming Home in the Dark (Light in the Dark Productions, 2021). In Marshall’s story, Crealy is the main point of view character, telling the story in his voice versus in the voice of Stefan Mortensen. The film follows the story faithfully, the only exception being that it gives Crealy a sketched backstory that verges on surrealism.
The best horror looks terror in its face and does not judge it; it merely provides an awareness of it. THE RULE OF JENNY PEN, which does have a scene of sexual assault, is not for everyone. However, it is worth a watch for its stellar performances and fascinating cinematography. The film will be streaming on SHUDDER soon.
This film is part of our coverage of Fantastic Fest, 2024, taking place September 19–26, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Interstellar Flight Magazine publishes essays on what’s new in the world of speculative genres. In the words of Ursula K. Le Guin, we need “writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope.” Visit our Patreon to join our fan community on Discord. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
[image error]The Rule of Jenny Pen was originally published in Interstellar Flight Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
