New Psychological Thriller Remake Rocks Critics on Rotten Tomatoes After Streaming Debut Actorsvaultpro

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Marcos Melendez is an entertainment journalist who has been active since 2017. His past work can be read on Collider, Escapist, ScreenRant, CBR, and Full Circle Cinema. He is currently a News Editor for MovieWeb.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle premieres today on streaming, and critics have already landed on a verdict for the remake of the cult classic 1992 psychological thriller. Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera (Huesera: The Bone Woman), her latest film follows Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Caitlin Morales, a mother who hires a mysterious nanny, played by Maika Monroe, who has sinister intentions with the family.

As of this writing, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle has a 62% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews. Most of the mixed reviews praise Monroe and Winstead in the “nanny from hell” thriller, but conclude that the overall film does not reach the heights of the early ’90s original. The AV Club was among the fresh reviews that were mostly positive, saying the film “features riveting tension, assured performances, and hallmarks of an exciting new director’s narrative fascinations, all while the politics of its central dynamic continue to cry out for examination.” Meanwhile, FandomWire stated that the direction and lead performances all provide “the exact kind of foreboding atmosphere you want from a psychological thriller.”

Meanwhile, some critics felt especially disappointed by the remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. IndieWire was not shy about how the film was “small and plainly shot,” with the plot squarely focused on “Gaslighting 101” before a late twist results in a third act “whose only sequence of genre-forward suspense is a predictable snooze.” Blu-ray.com agreed with that sentiment, saying in their own review that the third act provides “a surprisingly small offering of violence in a largely uneventful feature, and one that doesn’t provide much of a jolt 33 years after the Hanson movie won over the masses.”