JAMES ASHCROFT | NEW ZEALAND | 2024 | 103 MIN | ENGLISH
After suffering a stroke, revered judge Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush) begrudgingly enters an eldercare facility. With his scholarly reading in tow, Stefan scoffs at the aging, dependent residents around him, convinced he is merely passing through. All is not as it seems in this nursing home, however, and Stefan quickly learns that the residents are being quietly kept subservient to Dave Crealy, a sinister psychopath who hides behind the supposed whims of his hand puppet, Jenny Pen, to keep the facility under dictatorial rule. Inflicting psychological torture to assert their dominance throughout the facility, Dave and Jenny will stop at nothing to get what they want. When Stefan vows to instill justice in the home, the feuding foes may be in for the showdown of their lifetimes. Rush and Lithgow soak up every ounce of the foreboding atmosphere in this deliciously twisted little treat from director James Ashcroft. Dark and boundary-pushing, The Rule of Jenny Pen is a nasty thriller that will have you laughing and gagging in equal measure.
Cast: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, George Henare
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