
Peyton Flanders (Rebecca De Mornay) seemed to be the perfect nanny, but secretly she was out to wreck the lives of the family she was supposed to be helping. Before becoming the nanny, Peyton had a miscarriage due to the stress caused by the death of her husband, Dr. Victor Mott (John de Lancie), and blamed it on Claire (the mother, played by Annabella Sciorra),. Claire suspects nothing, having never met Peyton before.... (Full plot summary below)
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Peyton Flanders (Rebecca De Mornay) seemed to be the perfect nanny, but secretly she was out to wreck the lives of the family she was supposed to be helping. Before becoming the nanny, Peyton had a miscarriage due to the stress caused by the death of her husband, Dr. Victor Mott (John de Lancie), and blamed it on Claire (the mother, played by Annabella Sciorra),. Claire suspects nothing, having never met Peyton before.
Leave your thoughts about The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
| San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleHelmer has obtained taut, impressive performances, notably from cast women. |
| NewsweekDavid AnsenThere's no point in overpraising The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. It'd a scary but predictable genre piece that telegraphs its every move. |
| Chicago TribuneDave KehrYnpretentious and efficient, Curtis Hanson`s suspense drama The Hand That Rocks the Cradle suggests, after the monstrous ego trips of this past holiday season, that some sense of professionalism continues to reside in Hollywood. |
| Time OutColette MaudeAs the film progresses, malicious schemes and loony excesses are combined, with Hanson's self-conscious direction rendering one particularly sensational murder even more implausible. |
| Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumA knockout thriller that succeeds brilliantly at just about everything Scorsese's Cape Fear didn't. |
| Dispatch-Tribune NewspapersSteve CrumScary premise of mad sitter vs mother and child...effective. |
| EmpireBarry McIlhenneyA unexpected pleasure to watch, disturbing for new parents, slightly silly but ever so enjoyable. |
| The Seattle TimesMichael UpchurchBut while the message of Amanda Silver's screenplay may be unpalatable to some, this nanny-from-hell thriller is so artfully paced and performed that there's little resisting it. |
| Miami HeraldBill CosfordBut the film isn’t just a well-made TV-style thriller either. It’s on to something--the way upwardly mobile parents, hoping to make their lives more professionally fulfilling, unwittingly bring the danger of the unknown into their lives. |
| VarietyVariety StaffA low-key thriller that will make baby boomers double-check the references of any prospective nanny. |