The Rule Of Jenny Pen Ending Explained: What Happens To Stefan

The following contains spoilers for The Rule of Jenny Pen, now playing in theatersThe Rule of Jenny Pen‘s ending is a bleakly optimistic one that highlights how fighting back against a bully can sometimes be the only way to end their reign of terror. The psychological horror film is centered around Geoffrey Rush’s Stefan, a judge who finds himself sent to live at a secluded care home while recovering from a stroke. While trying to adjust to his new living conditions, Stefan finds himself the taget of John Lithgow’s Dave Crealy, a bully who uses his baby doll Jenny Pen as a means of torturing and controlling the other inhabitants of the facility.

The Rule of Jenny Pen is a deeply unsettling film at times and was hailed by the legendary Stephen King as one of his favorite recent horror movies. The Rule of Jenny Pen isn’t a deeply supernatural story or an overly complicated one, instead exploring a universal and almost childish challenge most people face from the perspective of elderly patients at an assistant living facility. The film’s morals about what it takes to stop bullying reflect a harsher and more adult perspective on the issue, with a very dark “happy ending” serving as the film’s ultimate message.

Stefan Destroys The Doll After Dave’s Death In The Rule Of Jenny Pen’s Ending

The Final Shot Proves Jenny Pen’s Influence And Memory Will Die Out

Stefan ends The Rule of Jenny Pen by burning the titular doll, symbolizing the end of “her” rule over the assisted living facility that Stefan has ended up at. Jenny Pen is the doll that Dave Crealy uses for his “therapy.” However, while the doll is a distraction to the facility staff and a tool for Dave, it’s a terror for all of the other patients at the facility. Giving the doll a creepy voice and a commanding personality, Dave has effectively bullied and terrorized the entire elderly population of the care facility into obeying Jenny’s rule by the time Stefan arrives.

While Stefan has no illusion about the doll being necessary to Dave’s mental health, the doll does serve as a visual indicator of Dave’s control over others. As he psychologically tortures and physically injures Stefan, Dave’s doll seems to change expressions or size. It’s a visual metaphor for the ways that Dave has been impacting others and controlling their lives, especially as Stefan struggles to not fall under the same control. This is what makes the ending of the film where Stefan burns the doll after Dave’s death all the more meaningful, as it fully ends the influence of Dave and Jenny on the building.

Why Dave Crealy Hates Stefan In The Rule Of Jenny Pen

Dave Is Eager To Bully Stefan For The Sheer Enjoyment Of It

Initially, there’s no clear reason why Dave starts targeting Stefan. Dave doesn’t have a grand motivation or former grudge with the judge. Late in the film, Dave reveals that he’s actually only seen the judge once in his life previously. Recalling how prim and proper Stefan looked in his respectable position as a judge, Dave now takes pleasure in ruling over him from his more grounded perspective. Ultimately, Dave is just a bully. He likes to terrorize people and lord over them for the sheer enjoyment.

That’s why Dave admits he doesn’t want to kill Stefan, as breaking his spirit is far more enjoyable to Dave.

That desire for unchallenged control extends to Stefan, the kind of person Dave wouldn’t usually compare to in the outside world. However, in the assisted living facility, Dave can actively decide what happens to Stefan and is overjoyed to have that control over someone society once held as above him. That’s why Dave admits he doesn’t want to kill Stefan, as breaking his spirit is far more enjoyable to Dave. He hates Stefan because he was someone he couldn’t previously compare to, and is happy that he can not rule over him.

How Dave Crealy Gets Away With His Crimes

Dave’s History With The Facility Gives Him Major Advantages As A Bully

There’s no single reason why Dave is able to avoid scrutiny, but a number of small elements of The Rule of Jenny Pen‘s setting are able work to his advantage. In multiple scenes, it’s shown that Dave has perfected his act as a mentally unwell but innocent old man, always maintaining a childish presentation when near the facility’s nurses or staff. The staff is either focused on patients who require more direct assistance or distracted by their own lives. They don’t seem malicious or even aware of his actions, but subsequently do nothing to stop Dave’s reign of terror.

Notably, Stefan finds evidence that Dave used to actually work at the facility in his youth. As a result, Dave has plenty of knowledge on the inner workings of the facility. Dave is able to set up his own private space to relax, knows which key cards to “borrow” to complete his tasks, and where he can escape the camera that line the walls. It’s possible that Dave used to rule over the facility in a similar manner, and that he’s simply devoted his full time and attention to running the facility now that he’s a patient there.

Is The Doll In The Rule Of Jenny Pen Supernatural?

Why The Expression On Jenny Changes During The Film

The titular doll in The Rule of Jenny Pen doesn’t appear to actually be supernatural, as there’s no indicator or clue that it actually is anything beyond a tool of Dave’s cruelty. Dave gives the doll a voice, uses it to taunt and attack patients, and ultimately ensures people remain under his control by making them lick his wrist while referring to it as Jenny’s backside. However, at various points in the film, Jenny seems to change physical shape or size.

The expression on the doll will change for a shot, or the empty eyes of the doll will briefly seem to have eyes. There’s no indication that these moments are actually magical in nature, though. In fact, they may be more glaring sign of Stefan’s mental degradation than any supernatural force. Over the course of the film, Stefan begins to suffer from lapses in memory and the physical effects of his stroke. As Dave’s cruel treatment of Stefan grows more aggressive, it’s possible that these visions of Jenny’s personality are Stefan’s hallucinating what she really is.

What Happens To Stefan After Killing Dave?

Stefan Gets Away Scot-Free After Killing Dave

The Rule of Jenny Pen ends on a bleakly triumphant note. Although Stefan and his roommate Tony seem to be broken by Dave’s cruel treatment, the pair actually end up luring Dave towards Tony’s hiding place in the facility laundry room. There, Stefan and Tony are able to ambush Dave and suffocate him with the blankets, killing him. Stefan’s murder isn’t seen as such by the staff, who ironically seem to determine that, much like some of Dave’s previous victims, his death was of natural causes. This means Stefan and Tony end the film facing no repercussions for their actions.

Tony is played by George Henare and effectively serves as the third main character of the film after Geoffrey Rush’s Stefan and John Lithgow’s Dave.

Overall, everyone seems to be happier after Dave’s death. Tony and the other inhabitants of the facility are much calmer after his death suggesting no one will miss him or raise an issue over his death. Stefan has also learned to open up to his fellow patients. While he began the film as a prickly man who just wanted to be left alone, his unexpected bond with Tony results in him eventually opening up and playing games with his fellow patients. The film ends with Stefan content and finally enjoying himself, all as a result of his murder of Dave.

The Real Meaning Of The Rule Of Jenny Pen

The Rule Of Jenny Pen Is About Bullies And The Importance Of Fighting Them Back

The Rule of Jenny Pen is ultimately a film about bullying and the dark power it gives someone over others. Although every major character in The Rule of Jenny Pen is of an advanced age, all of them end up reverting back to childish traits when around one another. Dave’s cruelty is spiteful and immature, all rooted in the impulsive desire to finally be the most important person somewhere in his life. People like Tony may have their pride keeping them from admitting what Dave has been doing, but they must learn to stand up for themselves to end it.

Stefan, in particular, is forced to consider his very black and white perspective on the world from a new light. Stefan learns what it is like to be a victim and how the powerful can use the disregard of the system to their advantage. Only by opening up to others and helping them fight back against Dave does Stefan find any happiness or comradery in the story. Stefan ends The Rule of Jenny Pen in a much better place, and it’s largely because he learns the importance of fighting back against cruelty instead of ignoring it.