The Rule of Jenny Pen

AroView: Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow go head-to-head in this striking piece of Kiwi Gothic that follows “Coming Home in the Dark” as another adaptation of a short story by Owen Marshall from director James Ashcroft.

This one tempers the darkness of that film but plays up the discomforting black comedy that comes with being prematurely stuck in a nursing home. Filmed at the Wairakei resort near Taupō, the Aussie veteran plays a pompous judge who courts further humiliation when he becomes subject to the escalating torments of an ageing miscreant, played with relish (and a pretty good Kiwi accent) by Mr. Lithgow, while veteran Māori actor George Henare bears witness to the cackling cruelty. It’s a ghoulish hoot.

“True cinema is John Lithgow terrorizing Geoffrey Rush in a nursing home with his creepy hand puppet.” ~Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

“The Rule Of Jenny Pen‘s willingness to constantly challenge its audience with shadows and hints rather than some kind of outright horror mythos is one of its great strengths…” ~Matthew Jackson, The A.V. Club