The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2025) Review

Maika Monroe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are excellent, but The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) fails them with its weaker elements.

Updating the film for a modern audience sounds quite easy, especially when you cast Maika Monroe, hot off the back of Longlegs (2024) as a new take on De Mornay’s character. She’s actually what drew me to this remake along with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays a new version of the mother role originated by Annabella Sciorra back in 1992. These two aren’t what’s wrong with director Michelle Garza Cervera and screenwriter Micah Bloomberg’s new interpretation; it’s everything around them, led by a poor script.

There are times when even terrible films manage to have a bright spot or two, and at least The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) has Maika Monroe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. After ages of being subjected to similarly plotted made for television films with bad acting, it was at the very least nice to have two leads clearly invested in this over the top material, even as Micah Bloomberg plays things too straight.

Monroe reminds us what made Rebecca De Mornay’s villainous nanny so memorable while managing to add new layers and ticks to her new version. Polly is charming, warm, eager to help, which makes her being hired by Caitlin Morales (Winstead) feel like a no-brainer. Monroe will likely remind audiences of their favorite babysitter, since she can balance being serious and fun so well around these kids. It feels like we can trust her with anything as we watch, which in turn makes Polly’s interactions with everyone, but especially Caitlin’s 10 year old daughter Emma (Mileiah Vega), feel logical.

Even though her dark turn happens a bit too fast, Monroe becomes absolutely terrifying. That wouldn’t have fully landed if we hadn’t been bought into Polly’s kind side. There’s a particularly horrifying scene where she switches between both sides of the character early on involving baby Josie Morales (Nora and Lola Contreras) which sent a pain through my heart. Maika Monroe’s emotionless facial expression is lingering in my mind as I type this.

That’s one of the ways Polly differs from Peyton Flanders/Mrs. Mott, who gave off this motherly vibe and even when she’s at her worst, there’s no way she’d hurt those kids because they’re part of the dream life Mrs. Mott wants. Polly’s a real wild card whom you can’t quite read, and that keeps you on your toes. What also fascinated me was Monroe’s ability to generate sympathy for this character, something De Mornay wasn’t able to do in the original film. Even though Polly does horrible things, Monroe doesn’t place her in that villain box, doing enough to make audiences consider this character’s point of view with a fiery, grounded performance. Tapping into her scream queen history, Maika Monroe manages to turn this antagonist into the hero of her own story and it makes Polly a thrilling character to watch. 

Speaking of scream queens, Mary Elizabeth Winstead adds another notch in her belt as Caitlin Morales, but The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) gives her the chance to do new things with this title. Caitlin is an independent, working woman, wife, and mother, which doesn’t exactly jump out as being final girl material. Winstead gets us to buy into that idea by passionately conveying all sides of the character. She’s overwhelmed by work, has a husband in Miguel (Raúl Castillo) who may mean well, but still doesn’t do everything he should, and then, most importantly, Caitlin has two young daughters to care for. So when she finds a lifeline in Polly, she takes it and doesn’t ask too many questions. I’m willing to bet a lot of parents would do the same (though they’d definitely do more research into this random woman before putting things into motion). 

At the same time, though, much like with Polly, something seems off about Caitlin that goes beyond postpartum depression, and Winstead does a great job of peeling back the layers of this character. She goes toe-to-toe with Maika Monroe, giving a turn that is equal parts sympathetic and vexing. One minute you’ll agree with Caitlin, but the next you’ll be asking how she could be so stupid. Winstead and Monroe’s performances work in tandem with the twists and turns of this narrative to create a story that leaves you unsure who to root for, which is compelling. 

What I also admire about The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) is Micah Bloomberg didn’t make this a shot for shot remake. Instead, he took pieces from the original and built something that’s familiar but does new things. Case in point: Rebecca De Mornay’s nanny Peyton Flanders/Mrs. Mott was firmly positioned as a villain to Annabella Sciorra’s matriarch Claire Bartel in the 1992 version. The problem is that even as Bloomberg tries new things, his script just isn’t strong enough. None of our side characters get the level of development as Polly and Caitlin, leaving many plot points feeling unearned or as if Bloomberg is in fact checking off boxes from Amanda Silver’s 1992 screenplay. 

Things move far too quickly. The original worked because it was a bit of a slow burn filled with gaslighting, while The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) moves so fast it’ll make your head spin. We don’t get to spend much time with Polly for example in the grand scheme of the film before she flips her villain switch. Look away for one second at your own risk, because who knows what you’ll miss. 

The biggest victim of this screenplay is Raúl Castillo’s Miguel Morales, who gets absolutely nothing to do, to the point where he might as well not even be there. In the original film, Matt McCoy’s Michael Bartel is an active participant, dealing with his wife Claire’s paranoia and fending off the advances of Peyton/Mrs. Mott. Miguel only handles one of those two issues, as Polly is confirmed to be bisexual but doesn’t really make any true advances on him or Caitlin. So for the majority of the story, Miguel is just kind of wandering as things focus on Caitlin and Polly, which is fine, but it does a disservice to Castillo. He’s proven himself to be a fine actor but seems very checked out here, and honestly, who can blame him. 

As if this film needed a nail in the coffin, Ariel Marx’s score provides it. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) features without question the worst score I’ve heard all year. These tunes not only rarely fit the mood, but they are incredibly loud and annoying. It’s like Marx just smashed down on a keyboard and said that was good enough. When you consider she also did the score for Shiva Baby (2020), you’d think her music would be able to add to the tension of this film, but alas, it only makes everything you see worse.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) is a disastrous remake that not even Maika Monroe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead can save. Even with some fresh ideas, Micah Bloomberg’s script repeatedly trips over its own feet and feels like it could’ve used multiple rewrites to slow things down and flesh out every character besides its two leads. Add on an annoying musical score to the poor script, and you get one of 2025’s worst films; everyone involved deserved better.

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle will be available to stream on Hulu (U.S.) and Disney+ (globally) on October 22, 2025.