The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Review: Maika Monroe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead Excel in This Better-Than-Expected Re-Imagining of the 1992 Nanny-From-Hell Thriller
Is remaking The Hand That Rocks the Cradle even necessary? That’s the initial thought which crosses my mind upon learning about this movie getting a remake last year. I mean, Curtis Hanson’s 1992 nanny-from-hell thriller was one of the quintessential movies during the 1980-90s yuppies-in-peril subgenre boom, thanks to the director’s genre know-how direction along with a solid cast all around, notably Rebecca De Mornay’s unforgettable antagonist turn. Too bad Hollywood and its never-ending love for remaking or rebooting old movies continue to exist for better or worse.
And so, here we are — a straight-to-streaming remake which still got me interested with the inspired casting of Maika Monroe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera in her sophomore feature after Huesera: The Bone Woman three years ago, the first thing I realise about the 2025 version of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is thankfully not a shot-for-shot remake but rather a surprisingly bold re-imagining of the 1992 genre classic.
The fundamental premise is still there: Maika Monroe plays Polly, who got hired as a live-in nanny to babysit real-estate attorney Caitlin’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) kids — Emma (Mileiah Vega) and baby sister Josie (Nora and Lola Contreras). Like the original, everything seems fine at first as Polly does a good job taking care of the kids, and Caitlin, along with her husband, Miguel (Raúl Castillo), begin treating her like one of their family members. But there’s something wrong about Polly, who has a deep secret that gradually reveals as the movie progresses.
First things first, Cervera does a better-than-expected job establishing the movie’s ominous tone right from the get-go, beginning with her deliberate way of foreshadowing Polly’s sneaky demeanour from the moment Monroe’s character meets Winstead’s Caitlin. Both actresses play off each other well, and credits go to Cervera and screenwriter Micah Bloomberg of TV’s Homecoming for fleshing out their characters. Both of them have complex pasts, and this re-imagining even goes as far as subverting the viewer’s expectations, which I didn’t see coming.
Individually speaking, it’s a big shoe to fill for Monroe to play the nanny role made famous by the incomparable Rebecca De Mornay in the 1992 original. But it’s a good thing that Monroe doesn’t try to ape her style as she manages to make her Polly character uniquely her own. It also helps that Cervera’s assured direction maintains a sense of intrigue throughout the movie’s confidently paced 104-minute runtime while updating the original with some key changes. The subversive twist aside, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle also includes the sexual tension between Polly and Caitlin, which drives their character dynamics.
As much as I enjoy Cervera’s re-imagining, the movie has a few blemishes that make it impossible to ignore. For instance, Polly’s motivation is vaguely executed like a fragmented piece of a bigger puzzle, despite the movie’s sporadic flashbacks. The movie also downplays Raúl Castillo’s character as a husband, who is sadly relegated to a thankless role. Martin Starr shows up as Caitlin’s best friend, Stewart, but the script doesn’t leave ample room for him to shine. Looking past some of these flaws, it’s worth noting again that Monroe and Winstead’s engaging performances hold everything together. Cinematographer Jo Willems’s atmospheric lensing is worth mentioning here, and so is Ariel Marx’s riveting score.
Coming from a horror background, Cervera doesn’t forget her filmmaking roots, even making a slick, mainstream thriller like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. She incorporates a mix of graphic violence and gore when a certain scene calls for it, notably the inevitable all-hell-breaks-loose third act. But she does so without resorting to being over-the-top or exploitative, just enough to evoke the right sense of visceral shock and dread.
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is currently streaming on Disney+.
