“It’s the rise of a dictator in the least likely of places…” Director James Ashcroft on The Rule of Jenny Pen

Based on the short story by Owen Marshall, upcoming psychological horror The Rule Of Jenny Pen follows arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen (Geoffrey Rush) who 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 (John 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.

We sat down with the movie’s director James Ashcroft to find out more…

The Rule of Jenny Pen is based on Owen Marshall’s short story. What drew you to this particular narrative, and how did you approach adapting it for the screen?

Owen [Marshall]’s a great writer. My two films to date have both been adaptations of Owen Marshall’s works. I’ve always been inspired by his writing because I think he’s a very cinematic writer. This one in particular, though, Jenny Pen, I’d never read anything that looked into a world like this in the way that it did.

Normally, stories that are set in care facilities or featuring elderly characters are usually light and fluffy – they’re not very nuanced. They’re just looking at positive aspects and I thought he had a very astute way into the world by looking at it through a genre, horror, psychological horror lens. And the bullying… I have young children, so bullying is always something that’s not too far from my mind. But I’d never considered that it was something that could await my ageing parents at a time in one’s life where it should be peaceful and you should be cared for. Those twilight years are actually very similar to your very young years in terms of vulnerability. I think the way Owen depicted the world of the rest home was very much like a schoolyard in that way and I was really tickled by that approach and that focus.

Also, the sketch of the characters in the short story, especially the three main leads, I just knew they were really strong foundations for three compelling characters.

The film has very real-world issues – aging and loss of autonomy are just a couple of examples. How did you balance the horror elements with these profound, real-life issues?

Well, I think loss of autonomy is huge in horror, and it’s been explored in a myriad of ways. So it was more about how we could get closer and put things under a microscope. By looking at them and having them that intimately close to you, that’s where the horror comes from. Also, the story is fundamentally about tyranny. It’s the rise of a dictator in the least likely of places, which is quite delightful.

But as history has taught us, that can go from delight to a nightmare very, very quickly. Looking at it through a lens of tyranny, that is where it’s getting a strong response in terms of horror because we live in very tyrannical times right now.

The care home setting plays a significant role in the film’s atmosphere. How did you ensure authenticity in portraying this environment, while also creating a sense of dread?

One thing I should say is that we have a lot of respect for care homes. This was never a film that was about criticising those environments at all. I mean, there are homes that deserve to be criticised, but the majority provide the right kind of environment. The authenticity of that was really important.

This isn’t the story about the home. Essentially, it’s about what happens in private corners in the middle of the night when abuse and bullying happen out of sight. It’s this hidden thing. We gave all our carers training from an actual care facility. Little details, which is all happening in the background, like how you talk to people, how to pick people up using a harness, how to walk with people, all of those little nuances, so the world that’s happening in and around the main characters is authentic.

I think what that really shows is that homes, regardless of how big they are, are incredibly busy. It’s a stressful job. You’re on your feet all day, every day, you have a lot of residents who need constant attention and care. It’s usually an underfunded, under-resourced line of work, and often they’re criticised, not necessarily for the right reasons or the right understanding.

I always think, this week’s it’s sharks, next week it’s spiders, and then sooner or later, it’s going to be schools or teachers or rest homes or hospitals that get criticised as they make for easy targets in a sort ‘no news like bad news’ in the media. So the media can be a little bullying itself in that regard towards rest home care.

But they’re definitely very intimate and close, which, if you have had experience of, they can be, on face value, kind of off putting because they seem to be places where this is the last stop for most people who go there.

John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush are both amazing in the film. How did you approach directing these seasoned actors, especially in such psychologically intense roles?

The better the actor, the more highly skilled they are. The deeper the craft and experience that they’ve had usually means they’re secure in who they are, and they’re usually an easier person to be around. Look, it was really simple. They understood the intention of the film and my vision for the film, and they understood the script and what was intended in every moment. They just bought their A-game, as they always do to any project.

But with this one, I think the challenges with the characters and the scenario are what they enjoyed, and they were rising to new challenges that they hadn’t necessarily had before.

Working with professionals like John and Geoffrey was, for a director, a dream job. They had more enthusiasm and energy than most 20-year-old actors that I’ve seen. They were curious. Their shelves are littered with awards but that level of curiosity about their craft and storytelling remains just as ardent as they were when they were young actors. They were absolutely delightful to work with.

(Watch a clip of Rush and Lithgow bringing their A-game below…)

Stephen King has publicly praised The Rule of Jenny Pen. What was that like?

That was pretty good! I was in a bookstore on Sunset Boulevard when I got an email from him, and then my phone started blowing up with people in New Zealand saying ‘have you seen the Tweet?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know. I’m not on Twitter!’ Haha! I was very, very moved by Stephen reaching out and then sending that out into the world. I mean, it’s always amazing if a hero of yours like that has made time to even to watch your film, read your book or whatever. But then to have them single it out is very, very special and really generous on his part.

That’s what’s great about Stephen. For someone who’s achieved as much as he has, he sends the elevator back down a lot. He’s very supportive of artists, of voices of works that he thinks people should see. It’s a testament to the man, as much as it is to the legend that he is.