The Rule of Jenny Pen is a What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? starring Geoffrey Rush (uncancelled?) and John Lithgod.

If 2024’s Thelma was a geriatric heist caper, then The Rule of Jenny Pen — an IFC/Shudder release, a match made in hell — is 2025’s geriatric horror movie.

Geriatrics are a mainstay in the genre, but typically as creepy supporting characters. Yet The Rule of Jenny Penn understands that the horror of aging deserves to be at the center of the frame: Rush is stuck inside a falling-apart body (body horror!), trapped in an old folks’ home against his will, surrounded by senility.

And then The Rule of Jenny Penn adds a twist: what if one of the residents (Lithgod) is an actual psycho who terrorizes his fellow inmates victims patients tenants, all under the guise of natural aging.

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The Rule of Jenny Penn also understands that when you cast a song and dance man (Lithgod), you freaking give him some songs and some dances, even if they’re more in the spirit of A Clockwork Orange’s “Singin’ in the Rain.”

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Speaking of geriatrics, and countering the vanity of aged actors, Geoffrey Rush lets the camera get up close and personal to his visage, harnessing his ability to wield his wrinkles and crevices for dramatic effect.