If you’ve ever wanted to see John Lithgow take a dark turn with a hollowed-out baby doll as his assistant, you’re in luck. IFC Films has just released the first teaser trailer for The Rule of Jenny Pen, their upcoming psychological thriller also starring Geoffrey Rush.
Directed by James Ashcroft, who wrote the film with Eli Kent, The Rule of Jenny Pen won both best director and best actor for Rush at this year’s Fantastic Fest as well as a dual best actor win for both Rush and Lithgow at the 2024 Sitges International Film Festival. The film’s logline is as follows:
Arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen suffers a near-fatal stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed and confined to a retirement home. Resistant to the staff and distant from his friendly roommate, Mortensen soon clashes with seemingly gentle resident Dave Crealy who secretly terrorizes the home with a sadistic game called “The Rule of Jenny Pen” while wielding his dementia doll as an instrument of cruelty. What begins as childish torment quickly escalates into far more sinister and disturbing incidents. When Mortensen's pleas to the staff go unanswered, he takes it upon himself to put an end to Crealy's reign of terror.
The film is also set to hit Shudder sometime next year, though an exact release date for the platform has not been announced. It joins a number of other 2025 horror releases for Shudder and IFC Films, as well as RLJE Films, whose slate also includes Flying Lotus’ Ash, Clown in a Cornfield, adapted from Adam Cesare’s novel, and the Norwegian language film The Ugly Stepsister, which just premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Their slate also includes a handful of thrillers, including The Dead Thing, Armand, and Inheritance, starring Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor.
The Rule of Jenny Pen hits theaters on March 7. Watch the new teaser below:
