John Lithgow Terrorizes with a Puppet in ‘The Rule of Jenny Pen’ Trailer

Academy Award Nominee John Lithgow (Pet Sematary, “Dexter”) plays a psychopath armed with a creepy puppet who terrorizes a retirement home in The Rule of Jenny Pen, and the brand new trailer highlights his character’s unsettling menace.

The Rule of Jenny Pen releases in theaters on March 7, 2025.

Academy Award Winner Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) stars opposite Lithgow’s villain as the unlucky target of his ire.

In the film, “Arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush) 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 (Lithgow), 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 twisty psychological thriller hails from director James Ashcroft, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eli Kent. The Rule of Jenny Pen is Kent and Ashcroft’s follow up to the brutal New Zealand thriller