The Brilliant Dread of "The Rule of Jenny Pen"
Let's make that Shudder price increase worth it, shall we?
***Spoilers for The Rule of Jenny Pen!***
I was quietly excited for the new Shudder original, The Rule of Jenny Pen, which hit the streaming platform in late March. I didn't know much about it other than what I learned from lists of 2025 horror movies: that it’s set in a nursing home, where a baby doll is used to torment the residents. Pedophilia was hinted at–maybe the perpetrator is one, or maybe the doll is possessed by one.
The pedophilia link is there, but it's more ephemeral than I'd thought–a suggestion of where the filmmakers want your mind to go in regards to the elder abuse that happens later. Morty, a judge, is sentencing a pedophile when he suffers the stroke that will put him in assisted care in the first place.
And that’s basically the plot of this movie: Morty is a judge who finds himself living in a nursing home where another resident, David Crealey (played by John Lithgow) torments the residents at night with a baby doll. None of the residents dare speak out because they know they won’t be believed.
Abuse against children and abuse against elders are strangely similar when you think about it–both victimize the extremely vulnerable, both are ultimately about control.
It's also interesting that the thing Crealey uses to abuse the nursing home residents is a baby doll–an old one that's been hollowed out into a shell of its former self.
A literal shell of youth. An apropo Boogeyman (boogeybaby?) for an old folks home.
I expect a lot of people will say this movie is boring, strong words about a film that forces you to watch a man accidentally set himself on fire through the perspective of someone too feeble to do anything about it except stare in horror.
And boringness is part of the point, one of the horrors of old age and nursing homes in particular. No grotesque caricature of senescence is needed here, no rotting woman to pull back the curtain in room 217, no murderous Grandma sundowning ala The Visit. This movie doesn’t deal in old-age horror tropes and I respect that.
Getting old is scary enough on its own, something most of us fear, and this movie knows it. And what we fear most, besides our own bodies and minds betraying us, are the people who might take advantage of that weakness. It's no mistake that the villain of this movie is a former staff member. One of the biggest worries about putting a loved one in assisted living is that they won't be treated well.
Even the staff, who are surely doing their best, patronize Morty and don't take him seriously.
The more I thought about it, the more I noticed the quiet, unobtrusive brilliance of this movie. Take the scene where Crealey lets the woman out of the facility to die of exposure, but then realizes she has his old name badge, which he's been using to sneak around at night and will link him to her death.
This is followed by a scene where he finds her drowned in a puddle, face down. He flips her over and takes his badge back.
Surely, you would think that anyone who found her, drowned but face up, would find it suspicious. I expected this would add some tension to the story.
Except it doesn't. Besides seeing Crealey squirm for a bit, which admittedly was a fun change of pace, this has no effect on anything. It could be pulled right out of the story with little effect.
That is, until you get to the ending where Morty and Gunner kill Crealey. It's all well and good, but surely someone would be suspicious, right? Morty has had it out for Crealey, and Gunner basically threatened him via haka the morning of his death (badass, by the way - an emotionally arresting scene).
Surely, someone would look into that, right? That’s sus.
Except, oh yeah, we've already established that this facility is shady as hell. They didn't even look into a woman drowning face up in a puddle.
And it would be so easy to track Crealey’s badge. Those badges are designed so that they can track each employee’s entrances and exits. Individual badges can be deactivated if lost, or if the employee no longer works there. So the fact that Crealey not only still has a working badge but that no one knows he’s using it is telling on how inept and negligent this nursing home is.
Yeah. No one’s going to look into Crealey’s death. It’s too much trouble.
While we're on the topic of Crealey’s death, let's talk about that scene scene. I found it so unsatisfying in a way that was entirely deliberate.
I didn't want Crealey to die, necessarily. I wanted him to be exposed. I wanted vindication for Morty, proof that he wasn't confused. I wanted the staff to apologize as Crealey was being led out in cuffs.
Barring that, I wanted vengeance. For Crealey to face an appropriate death for his crimes. To linger on him getting what he deserves.
What I got was a jumping scene that might have been B footage from The Shawshank Redemption. The best word to describe it is awkward.
It wasn’t about vengeance, or vindication. It was about survival. Three old men struggling for their lives as best they can, which means not well.
Because, meager as it is, survival is all they have left.
Though The Rule of Jenny Pen is, ultimately, a very uncomfortable and dread-filled movie, there is some measure of heart at its center. Morty and Gunner develop a close relationship based on their shared adversity, welcome in such a punishing environment.
So, if you’re looking for exciting, gore-filled camp as your Shudder experience, The Rule of Jenny Pen might not be for you. But if it’s an understated, masterfully-wrought slow burn with excellent performances you’re after, give Jenny Pen a watch. It’s worth it.
H. H. Duke is a writer, author, and podcaster. Most importantly, she loves horror! Currently she’s working on a book about a weird cave. OoooOOoo! For scary book recommendations, horror movie reviews, and other spooky things, subscribe to H. is for Horror now - If you dare!
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What I’m Reading
I just finished Night of the Living Dummy by R. L. Stine for an upcoming ep of The Dukes of Horror Podcast. Gotta love classic Goosebumps! I’m still on the lookout for my next read! Got any recommendations?
Great read HH! I didn’t know this hit Shudder. Also you taught me a new word as I didn’t know the meaning of “sundowning”. Love it.
I’ll have to check out your Goosebumps episode. Do you have a few favorites in that series?