THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE – Review by Nadine Whitney
I’ve long disliked Curtis Hanson’s 1992 movie The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. Despite being scripted by a woman, Amanda Silver, the whole affair reeked of 90s backlash against women who spoke up about sexual assault (it puts a target on their back) and simultaneously bemoaned the advent of the selfish working mother. Of course, there was also the inevitable hysterical woman driven mad by hormones and her bottomless need to be a mother. I rewatched it a few weeks ago and saw a well-paced thriller with misogyny masquerading as message.
How would one remake the movie in 2025 without the above issues being blatant? Michelle Garza Cervera who made the excellent motherhood horror Huesera in 2022 acts in the capacity of “director for hire” breathing an uneasy tension into The Hand that Rocks the Cradle 2025 but is hamstrung by Micah Bloomberg’s middling and careless script. After both Garza Cervera and Bloomberg (Sanctuary, 2022) previously both delivered more polished work: their collaboration on the reimagining of Silver’s story is a disappointing mismatch.
The first thing the film does in its favour is to ditch the traumatic miscarriage and scandal that brought Rebecca De Mornay’s Peyton to Annabella Sciorra’s Claire’s door. Instead, Polly’s (Maika Monroe) reasoning that Caitlin (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) owes her a family is rooted in a childhood tragedy that found Poppy an unwanted orphan in abusive foster care situations. Unlike Hanson’s film the audience isn’t shown immediately the mental state of the nefarious nanny.
While pregnant with Josie, Caitlin meets Polly in her capacity as a pro bono lawyer advocating for tenants’ rights. Polly reappears months later at a Los Angeles farmer’s market where she reintroduces herself and repeats her qualifications in nannying and childcare. Caitlin is struggling a little with her slightly resentful ten-year-old daughter, Emma (Mileiah Vega) and the new baby. After a rough postpartum period with Emma, Caitlin suggests to her husband Miguel (Raúl Castillo) that they hire Polly after checking her references.
Polly slips easily into the Morales’ home supporting Caitlin’s diet choices for her children and bonding with Emma immediately. Polly is quiet and deferential. She’s also observant, picking up on Caitlin’s antidepressant intake and noting where the tension points between Caitlin and Emma are. Her plan to remove Caitlin doesn’t begin immediately, but once she’s ensconced in the home the audience sees her pretence fall away—most notably by leaving baby Josie in distress. Once Polly has tested the waters and managed to be invited to live in the Morales’ house, she targets Caitlin’s mental state and credibility which leads to Caitlin appearing erratic and unreasonable. She also vaguely flirts with Caitlin and Miguel (the well-trod “beware of bisexuals trope) and makes herself essential to Emma. Soon, Polly has control of the house.
Michelle Garza Cervera is a stylish director who does her utmost to visually convey the threat inside the home. She employs mirrors and reflections to amplify the closeness and distance between Caitlin and Polly and to highlight Caitlin’s mental breakdown and out of character behaviour. It is when Garza Cervera has control of the film’s mood and atmosphere that The Hand that Rocks the Cradle overcomes its more over the top thriller trappings. Although in all aspects the film is nowhere near as overwrought as its predecessor, there are certainly scenes and plot contrivances that belie its pulpier leanings—if only anyone could process DNA with a home kit in a matter of hours using a soda can and a blood-soaked disused tampon!
Mary Elizabeth Winstead commits to her role as the gaslit and compromised mother who is close to losing everything in her life. She rarely rushes into “full crazy” mode. Likewise, Maika Monroe delivers a relatively grounded performance as the nanny bent on destroying her employer’s life. Both actors are struggling to create characters who are a touch more embodied than their scripted lines.
Women’s domestic thrillers and horror films have a long history with literature and cinema, and they require a story that is inventive with the tropes and ideas in the genre to make them memorable and distinct from a Lifetime movie. Michelle Garza Cervera’s direction and the two primary performances tip The Hand that Rocked the Cradle towards a sleeker production. However, there’s no complete escape from the low rent tawdriness of the script. The Hand that Rocked the Cradle is eminently forgettable, and that’s for the best.
