Uninspired writing, pacing hampers ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ remake
“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” joins the ranks of remakes that just don’t cut it, our columnist says. All the action was packed into the ending, which still didn’t deliver the needed punch. Emma Soto | Contributing Illustrator
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.
Since the 2010s, remakes of older movies have taken over the film industry. From Bradley Cooper’s 2018 “A Star Is Born” to Disney’s 2025 “Snow White,” movie remakes have received mixed reviews from audiences, with most being panned. Unfortunately, studios mass-produce remakes over and over again.
“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” is another remake of a decades-old movie that doesn’t live up to expectations.
The 2025 film, directed by Michelle Garza Cervera, was a loose adaptation of Curtis Hanson’s 1992 movie of the same name. It stars Caitlyn Morales (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a suburban mom who struggles with tackling motherhood and her career. She hires Polly Murphy (Maika Monroe) as a nanny to her children and finds that Polly may not be all she seems. The two women correspond to Claire Bartel and Mrs. Mott from the 1992 movie.
The remake focuses on building tension rather than following through with it. Meanwhile, the original movie does well in connecting Claire and Mrs. Mott’s stories. It explains that Claire reported Mrs. Mott’s obstetrician husband to the medical board, leading him to commit suicide and Mrs. Mott to become penniless. This makes it easier to believe that Mrs. Mott wants revenge on Claire.
But the 2025 remake doesn’t connect the two women’s backstories well. It instead roughly pulls them together in the last quarter. For most of the movie, the audience has no idea why Polly is trying to destroy Caitlyn’s life.
The opening scene shows Caitlyn and Polly meeting for the first time, with Caitlyn working as Polly’s attorney while Polly faces eviction and eventual homelessness. The job is cut short when Caitlyn goes into labor. In another scene, the two run into each other again, where they discuss Polly’s case and Polly offers to nanny for the new baby.
This scene was very short and unnecessary, as it’s repeated a few minutes later. I’m a person who despises dialogue exposition, but dedicating the opening scene of this movie to things that are tackled much better later on is a complete waste of time.
Instead, the introduction could’ve done more to focus on Caitlyn’s family dynamic and how stressed she feels at home, making the need for a nanny more obvious to the audience. It seems like the opening scene only served as a cause for the two to meet earlier in the movie. This wasn’t necessary, since the two interact with each other less than five minutes after this scene concludes.
Mental health is a huge part of this movie. The main storyline focuses on how Polly psychologically abuses Caitlyn during her time nannying the kids, doing things like replacing Caitlyn’s medication with methamphetamine tablets.
That mental stress is especially relevant after it’s established that Caitlyn had mental health issues after the birth of her first daughter.
Because of Caitlyn’s fragile mental state and need for support, the 2025 movie really made me hate how Miguel (Raúl Castillo), Caitlyn’s husband, treats her. It’s difficult to believe a long-term husband would turn his back on his wife and believe a woman that he just met, with no doubts in his mind.
For Polly to stay in the house and for the story to continue, Miguel must believe Polly over Caitlyn. But for him to ignore every concern that his wife has, while supposedly loving her and caring about her mental health, makes him extremely inconsistent and unrealistic.
Another issue I have is with the writing of Emma, Caitlyn and Miguel’s oldest daughter. It’s the same problem I have with Miguel. They’re both blindly trusting the nanny who came into their life a few weeks ago.
Yes, throughout the movie, Emma and Polly have a lot of bonding time. But for a child who has a relatively good relationship with her mother, I find it insane that she, like Miguel, would blindly trust Polly over Caitlyn. The only real issue that Emma has with Caitlyn is the fact that Caitlyn doesn’t let Emma have sugar.
Like the original, this remake has an action-packed ending, with Polly attacking Caitlyn in an attempt to take over Caitlyn’s life. This didn’t live up to the tension built throughout the movie, like when Polly poisons the family’s food to trick them into letting her move into the house.
Instead of continuing this tension, the fight between the women was roughly thrown into the last 10 minutes of the movie, making the conclusion rushed and messy. The only other action scene — when Polly attacks Caitlyn’s friend Stewart — is much better than the main one.
The 2025 version of “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” continues the trend of remakes only being a way for studios to make money off something that was already proven to be a success or a cult classic. It tries to work, but just doesn’t hold up. Remakes don’t help the industry, but burn it to the ground.
