By George & Josh Bate
Remakes, especially horror remakes, seldom surpass the quality of their predecessors. The rare ones that have excelled often took creative liberties with the source material (e.g., Martin Scorsese’s The Departed) or were tasked with reinventing a flawed movie (e.g., David Cronenberg’s The Fly). Michelle Garza Cervera’s remake of the 1992 thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle fits into both categories in exercising flexibility around the plot of an original film that was tense, albeit silly and rather formulaic. The result is a taut, methodically paced psychological game of cat-and-mouse featuring two powerhouse performances from Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maika Monroe.
Based on the film of the same name directed by Curtis Hanson and written by Amanda Silver, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle follows Caitlyn Morales (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a wife and mother of two children who takes on Polly Murphy (Maika Monroe) as the nanny for her children. Although Polly’s presence initially reduces Caitlyn’s stress and work load, a series of unusual occurrences and behaviors see their relationship slowly fracture as aspects of Polly’s background and motivations are revealed.
Those familiar with Hanson and Silver’s original film will recognize from this description that director Michelle Garza Cervera and writer Micah Bloomberg’s Hulu remake departs from the narrative of the original film. The most glaring of alterations is the pivot of protagonist from the nanny to mother and the mystery surrounding the nanny’s motivations. Whereas the 1992 film began by orienting the viewer to the nanny’s decision to infiltrate and derail a mother’s family, the remake adopts the perspective of Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s mother and wife Caitlyn as our lead character, fostering a decidedly more intriguing and tense film. What drives Maika Monroe’s Polly’s array of concerning behaviors remains elusive, while the discomfort and tension of the situation gradually ramps up for Caitlyn and, in turn, the audience.
Despite the shift in perspective, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle wastes no time informing the audience that something is off with Polly. Monroe immediately brings a subtly off-putting presence to Polly, with somewhat forced and delayed smiles during conversations suggestive that she harbors some insidious motive. Once she enters the home, it doesn’t take long for Polly to exhibit concerning behaviors that Caitlyn is not privy to, which imbue the film with great tension as we come to support and care for Caitlyn and her family. But just as Polly’s demeanor or actions begin to arouse suspicion, she miraculously recovers and saves face, thus ensuring Caitlyn doesn’t take any steps to terminate her from the nanny position. The film, largely due to Monroe’s performance, ensures that the entire situation never breaches into unrealistic or unrelatable territory. Investment in stories like this can easily go awry if our lead repeatedly overlooks concerning behaviors and takes actions (or inactions) that we as audience members would never do. But The Hand That Rocks the Cradle intelligently avoids this pitfall. Monroe deftly tows the line between unsettling and comforting, which effectively and realistically disarms Winstead’s Caitlyn. The actress known for her roles in Longlegs and It Follows is no stranger to horror and thriller films, but she delivers a different, more nuanced performance here that demonstrates her impressive range within the genre space.
Monroe’s strong performance is met blow-by-blow with a similarly powerful performance from Winstead. The Ahsoka and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World actress returns to the genre that she initially gained stardom for after starring in the horror series Wolf Lake and the horror films Final Destination 3, Death Proof, and Black Christmas with a performance that becomes increasingly more stirring over the course of the runtime. Due to Polly’s ever-escalating psychological mindgames, Caitlyn slowly unravels and reverts back to her mental state during an earlier period in her marriage marked by undefined mental health difficulties. As Caitlyn unravels, Winstead’s performance takes on different dimensions as she taps into concern, anxiety, and, eventually, possible paranoia of her character. It doesn’t help that Cailtyn’s husband Miguel (Raúl Castillo) is largely dismissive when Cailtyn voices her concerns, giving Winstead’s character an additional dimension to tackle. Like Monroe, Winstead, backed by a solid script, does well to not create distance between her character and the audience by reacting to increasingly alarming situations realistically and taking actions that would mirror the decisions of most viewers.
The cat-and-mouse game between Winstead and Monroe not only shows off the duo’s acting prowess – it makes for a thrilling back-and-forth that proves difficult to take your eyes off of. The film may not do anything too subversive with this cat-and-mouse struggle nor have anything particularly unique to say or commentate on, but it nonetheless works as a breezy and approachable psychological thriller.
Eventually, this cat-and-mouse game culminates in a solid plot twist that gives way to a finale that, while underwhelming, showcases the talents of Winstead and Monroe more resoundingly than ever. All the pieces of the puzzle click together nicely and even took us by surprise somewhat, a commendable feat given the film’s status as a remake. That being said, the conclusion resolves matters far too quickly and easily, in addition to squandering additional exploration of some interesting moral questions raised by the film’s twist. In being so deliberately, even slowly paced, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle sets up for a grander finale than what we ultimately get and thus concludes a tad disappointingly.
VERDICT: 7/10
Curtis Hanson and Amanda Silver’s tense, yet flawed 1992 psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is reimagined in mostly effective fashion by director Michelle Garza Cervera and writer Micah Bloomberg. The new Hulu film excels in pivoting focus from the nanny character to the mother character, this time played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, which creates added tension as the family’s situation worsens and intrigue as the motives of Maika Monroe’s nanny remain a mystery. Unfolding with methodical pacing, the film opts against a thrill-a-minute approach, allowing the tension to slowly and more successfully escalate. Despite being a horror and thriller veteran at this point, Maika Monroe delivers a different performance here that demonstrates her versatility in the genre space as she deftly tows the line between unsettling and comforting. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, similarly, produces a strong performance, especially in the second half as her character’s anxiety ramps up. The cat-and-mouse battle between the two proves thrilling and leads to a surprisingly solid plot twist, although the film ultimately concludes underwhelmingly with a speedy finale that fails to expand on interesting moral questions posed and justify the aforementioned slower pacing. Arriving just in time for Halloween, the remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle makes for an approachable psychological thriller perfect for those looking for a breezier watch this spooky season.