The film is a bit like The French Connection... but in a wheelchair

OSCAR WINNER GEOFFREY RUSH TALKS ABOUT NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR THE RULE OF JENNY PEN

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AUSTRALIAN actor Geoffrey Rush is known for producing some of cinema’s most memorable roles. But despite his long career, he has never played a character his own age.

Now, thanks to New Zealand-born director James Ashcroft, he is doing exactly that.

In The Rule of Jenny Pen, a psychological horror, Geoffrey, 73, plays Stefan Mortensen, a once-powerful judge who suffers a stroke and finds himself in a care home.

"That was the first question I asked James, who's in his mid-40s, I think,” says Geoffrey, who has won multiple awards, including the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in 1996 drama Shine.

“I just said to him, ‘I haven't worked for a while, so how old do you think he [Stefan] is?’ And he said, ‘How old are you now?’ I said, ‘I'm 73. He said, ‘Let's make him 73.’

“But I look about 125 in the film, because the prosthetics guy gave me the most amazing adjustments, muscle sag and all that sort of stuff.”

Based on a story by New Zealand author Owen Marshall, The Rule of Jenny Pen introduces us to Geoffrey's lawmaker, as his life is turned upside down when he is left partially paralysed after suffering a near-fatal stroke while passing sentence in court.

Unable to look after himself he moves into a care facility, where he shares a room with a retired rugby star and the pair of them come under attack from dementia patient Dave Crealy and his doll puppet - the Jenny Pen of the movie's title.

When no one believes Stefan’s claims that he is being terrorised by another resident, he takes matters into his own hands.