The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (film)



The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a 1992 American psychological thriller film directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Annabella Sciorra and Rebecca De Mornay. The tale follows a vengeful, psychopathic nanny out to destroy a naïve woman and steal her family. The title is taken from an 1865 poem by William Ross Wallace.

Plot
Claire Bartel is happily married and pregnant with her second child. At a routine check-up, she is sexually molested by her new obstetrician, Victor Mott. Traumatized, she tells her husband Michael, who encourages her to report him to the state medical board. Her initial accusation prompts four more women to come forward. Multiple charges are prepared against Mott by the district attorney's office. Instead of answering to the charges, Dr. Mott commits suicide by shooting himself to avoid being arrested. Lawyers tell Mott's pregnant widow that her husband's assets have been frozen because of the lawsuits, he voided his life insurance contract by committing suicide, and she will lose her luxurious home. Stressed, Mrs. Mott goes into early labor, causing her to lose her baby and require an emergency hysterectomy. While recovering in the hospital, Mrs. Mott sees a news story identifying Claire as the one who reported her husband, and she swears revenge.

Claire gives birth to a boy named Joey. Looking for a nanny, she unknowingly hires Mrs. Mott, who is going under the alias "Peyton Flanders". Mrs. Mott wages a campaign to undermine Claire. She frequently breastfeeds Joey in secret, effectively brainwashing him to believe that Mott is his mother; apparently, this causes him to reject Claire, as he stops taking Claire's milk. Mrs. Mott encourages Claire's daughter Emma to keep secrets from her mother, tries to turn Emma against Claire, and secretly destroys Michael's office proposal. Knowing that Claire's close friend Marlene had been Michael's ex-girlfriend before he married Claire, Mrs. Mott also suggests to Michael that he arrange a surprise party for Claire, leading Marlene and Michael to meet in secret. Claire accuses Michael of having an affair with Marlene, only to find the party-goers waiting in the next room.

Solomon, an intellectually disabled handyman who has been assisting the Bartels, discovers Mrs. Mott breastfeeding Joey. Mrs. Mott plants a pair of Emma's panties in Solomon's toolbox, leading Claire to fire him. Emma tells Claire that Solomon never did anything to her. Claire doesn't believe Emma, causing her to turn against her mother as Mrs. Mott had planned. Unknown to the family, except for Emma, Solomon keeps a watchful eye over them.

Claire doubts "Peyton" and tells Michael. Mrs. Mott overhears them, then sets a trap for Claire in the greenhouse. Marlene discovers Mrs. Mott's identity, but before she can warn Claire, Mrs. Mott tricks her into going into the greenhouse, where she is killed by the falling glass. Mrs. Mott, who knows that Claire suffers from asthma, empties all of her inhalers. When Claire finds Marlene's body, she has an asthma attack and is briefly hospitalized. As Michael is distraught over both Marlene's death and his wife's condition, Mrs. Mott attempts to seduce him, but he rejects her advances.

Claire eventually uncovers the truth about Mrs. Mott, confronts her, and reveals the truth about "Peyton" to Michael as Mrs. Mott claims that she and Michael are having an affair. Michael denies this claim and kicks Mrs. Mott out. Claire tells Michael to call the police as she realizes that Mrs. Mott was behind Marlene's death and that she was the intended target. Michael tells Claire to get Emma and Joey so that they can head to a hotel to be safe.

Mrs. Mott breaks into the house and lures Michael down to the basement where she hits him with a shovel, knocking him down the stairs and breaking his legs. Mrs. Mott attempts to take Emma and Joey, but after seeing Mrs. Mott assault her mother, Emma locks Mrs. Mott in the nursery. Mrs. Mott escapes and hears Joey in the attic. She enters and sees Solomon aiding the kids' escape. When Claire enters, Mrs. Mott attempts to kill her but stops after Claire appears to be having another asthma attack, prompting Mrs. Mott to mock her. As Mrs. Mott tries to take Joey, Claire gets back up, having faked her asthma attack, and pushes Mrs. Mott out of the window, impaling her on the picket fence and killing her. Touched at how Solomon risked his life to protect her family, Claire welcomes him back into their lives. As they leave the attic, the police and paramedics arrive.

Cast

 * Annabella Sciorra as Claire Bartel
 * Rebecca De Mornay as Mrs. Mott
 * Matt McCoy as Michael Bartel
 * Ernie Hudson as Solomon
 * Julianne Moore as Marlene Craven
 * Madeline Zima as Emma Bartel
 * John de Lancie as Dr. Victor Mott
 * Kevin Skousen as Marty Craven

Filming locations
Filming locations were Issaquah, Washington; Seattle, Washington (Mott's residence at 2502 37th Ave W in Seattle); and the Bartels' residence at 808 N. Yakima Ave. Tacoma, Washington.

Reception
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle opened on January 10, 1992, and grossed $7,675,016 in its opening weekend, bringing Hook down to #2 at the US box office from its four-week stay at #1. The film lasted at #1 for four consecutive weeks, then was upended by Medicine Man, which was also released by Hollywood Pictures. By the end of its run, the film earned a total of $88,036,683 in the United States and Canada and $52 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $140 million. It was also placed at #24 in Bravo's special 30 Even Scarier Movie Moments.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 63% based on 48 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Gene Siskel stated that he "had trouble accepting the premise of this picture because of the casual way in which the nanny is hired in an early scene by the mother," citing that the premise is unrealistic. However, he gave praise to Julianne Moore's character, saying, "much more believable, is the supporting character of the mother's best friend" and that "the friend is a terrific character, it's too bad she doesn't have more scenes in the picture." He mentioned that his "biggest objection to Hand That Rocks the Cradle is to its scenes with the children in jeopardy or psychic pain." Siskel finally remarked that "there are some fun thrills in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle to be sure, but I found a lot of it distasteful, too." Roger Ebert, however, had a higher opinion of the film, stating that he "found this film worked" and that "It touches on a fear and that's why it appeals to us." Ebert praised De Mornay's performance in the film, saying, "she does, I think, a very good job, a very, very sound job of being the villainess in this film and I think it's an effective performance" and that he found the scenes of the children "very interesting because I saw them as a portrait of the evil of that woman."

Vincent Canby of The New York Times said of the film that "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is meant to scare audiences more or less in the way that the patrons of the early nickelodeons were frightened when they saw the image of a train rushing at them. Audiences aren't asked to think, only to react" and that "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle proves again that not thinking isn't especially easy even today. Though Mr. Hanson is a slick movie maker, he is not an especially persuasive one here. Don't be gulled by those who would compare The Hand That Rocks the Cradle to Fatal Attraction, which features three strong characters who, in one way or another, are ready to answer for their actions." He added that "Mr. Hanson creates the occasionally effective shock effect to satisfy those who want to squeal in mock fright. More often the devices he uses are such tired tricks as the crosscutting between two sets of simultaneous, often innocent, actions to create the illusion of suspense that can't be sustained." Rebecca Hawkes of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a rating a 3 stars out of 5 and said that "It’s a tense, viscerally unsettling moment, that helps make the film into something more than just a fun, formulaic thriller", while Sue Heal of The Radio Times rated the film 4 stars out of 5, stated that "This is pure unbridled hokum, of course, but extremely effective until the last 30 minutes, when the plot rapidly self-destructs."

Home media
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle was released on VHS on July 8, 1992, on DVD on December 8, 1998 and Blu-ray on September 4, 2012. The film was presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio, approximately 1.85.1. The only special feature included on the DVD is the film's original theatrical trailer.