Maika Monroe (left) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 'The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.' Suzanne Tenner/20th Century Studios Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Rewatching the juicy parental-nightmare thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle three decades after its release is a reminder of what a polished, versatile craftsman the late Curtis Hanson was. During the 10 years of his filmmaking career that followed, he directed the white-knuckle adventure thriller The River Wild; the hard-boiled noir L.A. Confidential, which won him an Oscar as co-writer; the bittersweet comedy-drama Wonder Boys; and the quasi-memoir Eminem hip-hop saga 8 Mile - all of which still hold up. It's no big surprise that Hulu's new take on The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, directed by Michelle Garza Cervera from a script by Micah Bloomberg, can be filed under "unnecessary remakes." By those standards, it's far from the worst. Who remembers 2008's The Women, 1993's Born Yesterday or 2002's Swept Away, just to name three mangled classics? But atrocity is a low bar to clear. Related Stories TV Ahead of 'Only Murders in the Building' Finale: Who's About to Die? TV 'Project Runway' Renewed for Season 22 on Disney Outlets The Hand That Rocks the Cradle The Bottom Line Innocuous but inessential. Release date: Wednesday, Oct. 22Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Maika Monroe, Raúl Castillo, Martin Starr, Mileiah Vega, Riki Lindhome, Shannon Cochran, Yvette LuDirector: Michelle Garza CerveraScreenwriter: Micah Bloomberg, based on the screenplay by Amanda Silver Rated R, 1 hour 45 minutes This modern twist on a screenplay that originated as Amanda Silver's film school thesis doubles down on traumatic history and victim-blaming and stirs in some undercooked female homoerotic tension. But it dilutes the original's lurid pleasures and destabilizes the central dynamic by putting the mother who has it all and the nanny hell-bent on destroying her life in a mental-instability contest. Maybe two damaged women for the price of one seemed a good idea on paper? It also makes an underwhelming tradeoff in the sharp-best-friend-who-discovers-the-truth department. For many of us, hard-edged luxury real estate broker Marlene Craven ranks among Julianne Moore's most delicious performances. In these joyless times in which constructive criticism can get you marched off to HR, hearing Marlene snap at her Harvard-educated male assistant is like good sex. Real estate attorney Caitlin Morales (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is expecting her second child when she meets Polly Murphy (Maika Monroe) while doing pro bono tenants' rights work for low-income people requiring housing assistance. Soon after the baby is born, they run into each other again at a farmers' market, where Caitlin is alarmed to hear that Polly is still struggling. But she offers her services as a babysitter. Despite Monroe playing the quietly intense Polly with the hollow-eyed stare of an Olsen twin and the warmth and social skills of Travis Bickle, Caitlin hires her after a cursory check of her childcare experience. Her architect husband Miguel (Raúl Castillo) agrees that Caitlin is stretched thin and could use some help. He worries that her struggles are a replay of the post-partum depression that followed the birth of their first child, Emma (Mileiah Vega), who's now 10 and prone to tantrums, usually directed at her controlling mother. While doing little to hide her creepy vibe, Polly starts in on small acts of sabotage - she messes with Caitlin's meds, putting her more on edge; spikes the cioppino at a dinner party, giving everyone upset stomachs; and ignores Caitlin's no-sugar veto for Emma and her baby sister Josie. Instead, she makes a secret pact with Emma over cupcakes and turns the infant off her mother's unsweetened breast milk. Somehow though, Polly makes herself indispensable, so when she starts talking about leaving unaffordable Los Angeles, Caitlin and Miguel move her into the guest quarters intended for his aging Mexican parents. (In a wry dig that's the closest the movie comes to a subversive vein, Caitlin reveals, "His Mom's no fan of the States.") The airy house is a handsome contemporary construction in wood and floor-to-ceiling glass (we know someone will go through at least one pane). But what kind of family-in-peril thriller fails to take advantage of a swimming pool just begging for mayhem? Polly early on casually tells Caitlin she dates women, prompting her employer to volunteer that she was also queer before she met Miguel. But whatever sexual frisson this was intended to implant, it's too underdeveloped to add much, even after Polly catches Caitlin staring through her window while she gets into some erotic asphyxiation sex with her punky friend Amelia (Yvette Lu). Meanwhile, the nanny's behavior becomes more conce