Maika Monroe signs on for The Hand that Rocks the Cradle remake from The Bone Woman director
By Mads Lennon
Maika Monroe is finally getting the recognition she deserves as one of this generation's best actresses and a true scream queen. After starring in Neon's acclaimed and financially successful film Longlegs as FBI agent Lee Harker, Monroe has signed onto her next project, a remake of the 1992 classic The Hand that Rocks the Cradle from 20th Century Studios.
As a fan of Curtis Hanson's psychological thriller, I don't know that it needs a remake, but knowing Monroe is attached has piqued my interest. The film's subject matter would also be fascinating to see through a modern lens.
According to Deadline, Monroe is going to play the role of Mrs. Mott, who Rebecca De Mornay portrayed in the original movie. In the 1992 film, Mrs. Mott becomes a widow after her husband, an obstetrician, is accused of sexual assault, and he kills himself as a result. Because of his suicide, his life insurance policy is voided and a heavily pregnant Mrs. Mott is informed she will lose basically all of their assets.
The stress causes her to go into early labor, resulting in the loss of her child and an emergency hysterectomy. When she finds out that a woman named Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra in the original) was the first woman to come forward about her husband, she sets out on a mission of revenge, pretending to be a nanny to get into the Bartel household. The role of Claire has not yet been cast for the remake.
It's especially exciting to see Monroe take a role like Mrs. Mott because she usually plays the protagonist or "final girl" type, such as in It Follows, Longlegs, and Significant Other. It'll be fun to see her take on a more antagonistic role in a horror-thriller film.
Another exciting element to the remake is that it will be directed by a woman, Michelle Garza Cervera, director of the excellent body horror film Huesera: The Bone Woman, and written by Sanctuary writer Micah Bloomberg.
Stay tuned to 1428 Elm to get updates on The Hand that Rocks the Cradle as they become available!
Next. 8 films as unsettling as Longlegs. 8 films as unsettling as Longlegs. dark