Stream it or skip it?

2025 edition The hand that rocks the cradle (Now streaming on Hulu) shows little interest in the theatrics that made the 1992 original a hot, water-cooler talk show and a camp classic of the preposterous thriller era (see also: eyeball corn – bulgers Fatal attraction and Basic instinct). The new direct-to-streaming version takes the basic idea – malicious worms in a normal family’s life to torture them – and updates it for the modern era, but proves that gaslighting is still as old as time itself. Michelle Garza Cervera directs Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maika Monroe in the lead roles, and the result is as shallow as it is entertaining.

Essence: Kaitlyn (Winstead) has a near-perfect life: a supportive husband, Miguel (Raul Castillo). lively, if “willfully” school-age daughter, Emma (Melia Vega). New baby, Josie. A large, luxurious house in Los Angeles made entirely of glass, marble and 90 degree angles. And a high-powered lawyer’s job, because movies about low-powered lawyers are just silly. If there was a stop sign to slow down the traffic a little on the street outside their giant motorized metal gate – well, that would obviously make its presence perfect. It probably goes without saying that Caitlin’s life takes place in a very controlled environment. Just as the gate keeps out potential intruders, her refusal to feed herself or her family palm oil or sugar in any form cordons off all sorts of fun and unhealthy things. The only thing that goes in is what Caitlyn allows.

but. The film makes a rather pointed point to show how Caitlyn copes – gasp! – A prescription, and it is certainly not a treatment for a chronic cold. Hmm. Despite living in a bubble that certainly seems designed to minimize interaction with the world at large, Caitlin does do nice things for people in need, perhaps to assuage the guilt she feels about her upper-middle-class life with a nice big backyard pool, a guest house, and a refrigerator that would fit an entire family of suckling pigs if anyone here ate saturated fat and a wall The one in the kitchen is a floor-to-ceiling cabinet (and we’re not talking about IKEA here). Did I mention she sleeps under the comforter, sorry? Quiltwhich probably costs $1100? Well, she sleeps under a Quilt It probably costs $1100. Where were you? Right: She’s offering free work to people who are getting ridiculed by landlords – that will keep her busy from now until forever! And so she meets Polly (Monroe), a young woman in her late twenties who owns nothing but a beat-up Prius and a flint look in her eyes that says… I once stabbed someone and saw live intestines writhing around and it didn’t really bother me.

So of course, Kaitlyn hires Polly to babysit so she can go to the “stop sign meeting” without a baby sitting on her hip. The arrangements are going absolutely amazing, and Polly’s rent situation hasn’t improved — apparently that’s what free labor will get her — so Caitlin gives her a live-in nanny gig, which includes a key to the guest house. Caitlin and Polly trust each other: They’re both attracted to women, so maybe there’s a little something extra when Polly puts her hands on Caitlin to help her with a spasm in her neck. It helps that Polly has a real relationship with Emma the Handful. What Caitlin doesn’t know is that Polly is watching her while she sleeps, stealing cookies for the kids, and putting a little something in the soup to make everyone throw up. Polly shares sad childhood tales with Emma: “I had to eat tuna out of a can like a cat.” Caitlin begins with the sixth sense that all is not well with Polly, which is the perfect time for the plot and Miguel to reveal that Caitlin has been through some things; After I had Emma, ​​my postpartum depression was brutal. Thus the foundation is laid for no one to believe her when Polly’s evil tendencies begin to boil over. That’s Caitlin. She’s acting crazy again.

What movies will it remind you of?: The Charlize Theron vehicle is underrated (but frustratingly incomplete). take over It addresses the topic of postpartum depression in an intelligent and emotionally charged way.

Performance worth watching: Winstead and Monroe Show The hand that rocks the cradle Functional. Always subtly underplayed, Winstead betrays her character’s foibles, beneath the glamor of money, comfort, success, and neoliberal ideals; Caitlyn seems to define herself by her failures. Monroe is noticeably understated, but she doesn’t need to be, because we know what’s coming; She is almost grotesque in her demeanor, deeply conveying the cold pettiness of someone with bad intentions.

Unforgettable dialogue: Kaitlyn opens up to Polly, sharing some of her postpartum struggles:

Kaitlyn: That first year was something.

Polly: I think I can say that.

Sex and skin: A couple of suggestive, non-graphic sex scenes.

Take us: Full disclosure: I have no affinity for preposterous thrillers, though I admire their shameless immorality in the current era, when on-screen sex is so downplayed that movies often struggle to reflect the full reality of human life. This is the place The hand that rocks the cradle The new version reveals its modern feel—the little massage Polly gives Caitlin, which involves wrapping her hand around her throat, lacks the psychosexual charge that might have given the film more thematic appeal. It’s not even an exciting moment. Instead, it comes off as gently sly, and while any attempt at subtlety is a welcome subversion of Curtis Hanson’s Oh-Look-At-Me-So-Shocking In the original film, more electricity would have elevated the scene from simply revealing to provocative.

So that key moment is a failure, remembered only for the loss of opportunity. The only scene that comes close to fulfilling the idea of ​​what happens is at the dinner table, when Emma declares that she wants to “kiss the woman” in the relationship, which raises emotions and ideologies but is quickly shot down—more than just a plot device, it’s another way Polly works her way into the family’s psyche and turns Caitlin upside down. Otherwise, the film is a collection of skeptical/paranoid clichés through which Winstead and Monroe work, albeit ably, their performances to be engaging enough to reflect the broken people within their characters, caught up in a depressing gaslighting plot.

Cervera’s direction is very strong, and cinematographer Joe Willems generates a sense of nausea through skewed camera angles and slow, steady sideways movements as the film builds to a climax of suspense that surprisingly finds a way to blend the realistic and the absurd. The score is annoyingly over-the-top and persistent, full of distorted piano notes and obtrusive synths (the drop of Nick Cave’s needle is surprisingly delicious, though). Some will criticize the lack of camp here, which I cannot support; And I can’t fully endorse Cervera’s serious tone, which struggles to sell the inherent silliness of the story that will inevitably try to rip you off by the jugular rather than sort things out with calm, sensible conversation.

I searched for an underlying message, and came up with one crisp assertion Nativity twenty-five Almost Makes: This is what happens when you’re too busy to play with your kids! Nannies may ease some of the burdens of parenting, but what Caitlin may not realize is that the key is what really connects kids and parents — it’s not trips to the parks and big birthday parties, but baths, meals, and, in Emma’s case, bangs trimmed, and routine things, that define relationships. But at times this film seems more interested in considering whether trauma or processed sugar is more harmful to children’s health.

Our call: Cupcake never killed anyone, Caitlin. this Hand that rocks He exists on a perilous cusp: Is he wasting his talent, or does the talent elevate him enough to make him watchable? It’s easy to appreciate Winstead and Monroe, so let’s go with the latter. Broadcast it.

John Serpa is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.