Stephen King Says A New Dark Thriller Has Just Become "one Of The Best Movies" He's Seen This Year

Horror master Stephen King has high praise for a new, dark thriller coming to Shudder. 

"I watched one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's called THE RULE OF JENNY PEN, and I urge you to watch it when it appears on Shudder," King wrote on Twitter. "Geoffrey Rush stars, with John Lithgow as a geriatric psychopath with an evil hand puppet."

The Rule of Jenny Pen is directed by James Ashcroft, with a script from Ashcroft and Eli Kent, adapting an Owen Marshall short story. The film sees a judge (Rush) taken to an assisted living facility after suffering a stroke in court. But, the facility is a sinister place, with a patient (Lithgow) and his puppet named Jenny Pen tormenting the other patients, including the judge. The film premiered at this year's Fantastic Fest and is expected to hit Shudder in 2025. 

This is far from the first time that King has taken to his Twitter to praise a film. "REBEL RIDGE: If this is a Netflix original, it's one of the best. A thinking man's RAMBO. No diss to David Morrell," he wrote recently. 

He's also shared praise for Strange Darling, a horror movie starring Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald. "I got an advance screener of STRANGE DARLING, and it's really terrific," King said. "I'll try to attach the trailer here, because it's also a clever masterpiece. Can't say more; watch the film and you'll understand what the trailer is up to." 

While you wait for The Rule of Jenny Pen to hit Shudder, check out our guide to the best horror movies to watch now to fill out your watchlist.