The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

1/10/19921h 50m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Trust is her weapon. Innocence her opportunity. Revenge her only desire. ~

Overview:

A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders as their newborn's nanny. Only much later does the infant's mother, Claire Bartel, realize Peyton's true intentions -- to destroy Claire and replace her in the family. The nail-biting suspense builds quickly in this chilling psychological thriller about deception and bitter revenge.

Director:

Curtis Hanson

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$11,700,000.00

Revenue:

$88,036,683.00

Key words:

rage and hate
loss of loved one
nanny
destroy
family's daily life
infant
childlessness
malice
desire to have children
kids
suspenseful
frightened

Cast

Annabella Sciorra

~ as ~

Claire Bartel

Rebecca De Mornay

~ as ~

Mrs. Mott / Peyton Flanders

Matt McCoy

~ as ~

Michael Bartel

Ernie Hudson

~ as ~

Solomon

Madeline Zima

~ as ~

Emma Bartel

Julianne Moore

~ as ~

Marlene Craven

John de Lancie

~ as ~

Dr. Victor Mott

Kevin Skousen

~ as ~

Marty Craven

Mitchell Laurance

~ as ~

Lawyer

Jane Jones

~ as ~

Woman in Park

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

Wuchak
Written 5 year(s) ago
6
The nanny from hell in the Seattle area

A well-to-do couple in the Puget Sound region (Matt McCoy & Annabella Sciorra) hires a nanny not knowing that she has axes to grind (Rebecca De Mornay). Ernie Hudson plays a mentally challenged laborer while Julianne Moore is on hand as the wife’s best friend.

"The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (1992) is a drama/thriller in the mold of contemporaneous flicks like “The Stepfather” (1987) and “The Crush” (1993). The events even take place in the same area as those. While it’s the least of these, it’s not far off in overall quality.

It has a bit of a Lifetime movie vibe and the serviceable Sciorra doesn’t trip my trigger while De Mornay’s character is a turn-off because she’s obviously nutzoid. Meanwhile Moore superbly plays a biyatch while McCoy is ineffectual as the hubby. The locations are fabulous, however.

The movie runs 1 hour, 50 minutes, and was shot in Seattle, Tacoma and Issaquah, Washington.

GRADE: B-/C+
CinemaSerf
Written 2 year(s) ago
7
For a while, Rebecca de Mornay is quite menacing as the live-in nanny "Peyton". She is hired by "Claire" (Annabella Sciorra) and her husband "Michael" (Matt McCoy) to look after their baby. Initially all kind and helpful, we soon begin to suspect that she has another agenda - and that she will stop at nothing to attain it! Sadly, after about twenty minutes the story rather settles into a predictable pattern as she gradually manipulates the family, exploits and creates some cracks in the marriage (or tries to, anyway) before a denouement that is really rather weak and takes just a bit to long to arrive. The production is maybe just a bit too pristine, too sterile, to sustain the sense of peril and the dialogue is just too wordy with scenarios taking too long to cook. Still, it's quite watchable film just one that I think has dated rather over the last thirty years into a mediocre television thriller.