"The Rule of Jenny Pen" Teaser Trailer: John Lithgow Delivers a Chilling Performance in New Psychological Thriller with Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in this eerie New Zealand-set mystery, hailed by Stephen King as one of the year’s best.
Even at 79, John Lithgow still finds ways to surprise us. The veteran actor has built a career tackling diverse roles, from his Emmy-winning portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Crown to his Oscar-nominated turn as a transgender ex-football player in the 1982 drama The World According to Garp. Now, Lithgow delivers another eye-opening performance—this time, sending chills down our spines. But here’s the thing: he’s not lurking in the shadows as a masked slasher, nor does he sport a gruesome facial scar or wield a deadly weapon like a chainsaw or a blood-stained machete. No, Lithgow’s only prop is a simple hand puppet resembling a translucent baby. And yet, somehow, he’s just as terrifying as any horror icon.
Check out Lithgow at his creepiest in the new official teaser trailer for The Rule of Jenny Pen.
What makes this even more intriguing is that the film is a New Zealand psychological thriller set in a retirement home, meaning Lithgow adopts a Kiwi accent for the role. And it must be one hell of a performance because the first quote in the teaser comes from horror master Stephen King himself, calling it "one of the best movies" he’s seen this year.
Based on a short story by New Zealand novelist Owen Marshall, the upcoming thriller is directed by New Zealand filmmaker James Ashcroft. This follows Ashcroft's 2021 feature debut, the gritty Kiwi thriller Coming Home in the Dark, another adaptation of an Owen Marshall short story about an intense encounter between a family on a road trip and two mysterious, menacing drifters. Ashcroft also co-wrote the adapted screenplay with his writing partner, Eli Kent, who also worked on Coming Home in the Dark.
The Rule of Jenny Pen also marks the return of Oscar-winning Australian actor Geoffrey Rush, who hasn’t starred in a feature film since 2019’s Aussie drama Storm Boy. In recent years, Rush has largely stayed out of the spotlight, spending much of his time in legal battles following public allegations of inappropriate on-set behavior during a 2015 theater production of King Lear. He denied the accusations, which included additional claims of sexual misconduct. Rush ultimately won a defamation lawsuit against Sydney’s Daily Telegraph for misrepresenting him in their coverage of the allegations.
In the film, Rush plays Stefan Mortensen, an elderly stroke victim and former judge who has recently moved into a senior care facility. Still adjusting to his new surroundings and struggling with his limited mobility, Stefan soon finds himself the latest target of the retirement home's resident weirdo—Dave Crealy (played by Lithgow). Crealy appoints himself judge and jury, insisting that Stefan has something to atone for. And Crealy just might be the torturer Stefan needs to make him realize it.
"We all get what's coming to us at the end," Lithgow's Crealy says in a seriously creepy tone as the teaser quickly cuts to a shot of Stefan in a wheelchair, engulfed in bright orange flares as he burns in screaming agony.
The Rule of Jenny Pen is set to open in U.S. theaters on March 7th, courtesy of IFC Films.
Shudder, the horror streaming service, has also picked up the exclusive streaming rights to the film, and it will premiere on the platform following its theatrical run.