The Rule of Jenny Pen

Directed by James Ashcroft, The Rule of Jenny Pen follows Geoffrey Rush’s Stefan Mortensen as he’s terrorized by a psychotic fellow resident (John Lithgow’s Dave Crealy) of a secluded rest home. It’s a seemingly foolproof premise that’s slowly-but-surely squandered by Ashcroft, as the filmmaker, armed with his and Eli Kent’s screenplay, delivers an exceedingly (and excessively) deliberate misfire that strikes all the wrong notes virtually from the get-go – with the interminable slow-burn atmosphere compounded by a repetitive, one-note structure and general lack of standout sequences. (It’s ultimately not surprising in the least to discover the picture is based on a short story, as the absence of forward momentum or eventful happenings ensures it always feels like it’s based on a short story.) And while Lithgow’s menacing, gleefully larger-than-life performance admittedly provides some amusement, The Rule of Jenny Pen, which increasingly contains grating, needless surreal elements, builds towards a thoroughly underwhelming (and somewhat interminable) final third that ensures the whole thing peters out to a palpable degree – with the end result a misbegotten trainwreck that feels like it could (and should) be so much better.

* out of ****