The first teaser trailer has arrived for The Rule of Jenny Pen, an unsettling-looking New Zealand psychological horror-thriller led by John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush. Check it out above and read on for the info.
The film is set in a retirement home where a sinister game unfolds—one that turns from mere mischief into something far more terrifying. The film finds Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush playing Judge Stefan Mortensen, an arrogant and embittered man who finds himself partially paralysed and confined to a care facility after suffering a stroke. His new reality is bleak, but things are about to get much worse.
Enter fellow resident Dave Crealy (Lithgow, complete with a NZ accent), whose seemingly mild-mannered exterior hides a terrifying darkness. Crealy, you see, secretly rules over the facility through psychological torment, using a dementia therapy doll in twisted and sadistic ways. With staff dismissing his concerns and other residents too fearful to intervene, Mortensen must take matters into his own hands to put an end to Crealy’s reign of terror.
OTHER POSTS:
This one comes from New Zealand filmmaker James Ashcroft, making his sophomore feature following dark 2021 thriller Coming Home in the Dark. He reunites with Eli Kent, also his writing partner on that film, on the screenplay. The film is produced by Catherine Fitzgerald and Orlando Stewart, with Lithgow and Rush also serving as executive producers.
Very intrigued with this one. The Rule of Jenny Pen, also starring Nathaniel Lees, Thomas Sainsbury, Ian Mune, George Henare, and Maaka Pohatu, will be hitting U.S. cinemas on March 7 and Australian cinemas on March 20.