TRUST IS HER WEAPON. INNOCENCE HER OPPORTUNITY. REVENGE HER ONLY DESIRE.

The Bartels (Annabella Sciorra, Matt McCoy) hire a new nanny (Rebecca De Mornay), little dreaming that she is highly motivated to destroy their family.

There are plenty of reasons why this movie shouldn’t work and they all have to do with the script. Most of the psychotic nanny’s actions are predictable and it’s hard to believe why the Bartels would fail to see through her for such a long time. But De Mornay is so wickedly good, and the story skilfully touches on any parent’s deepest fears, that it’s hard to resist.

Curtis Hanson knows how to keep tension high, right up to the end.

1992-U.S. 110 min. Color. Directed by Curtis Hanson. Screenplay: Amanda Silver. Music: Graeme Revell. Cast: Annabella Sciorra (Claire Bartel), Rebecca De Mornay (Peyton Flanders/Mrs. Mott), Matt McCoy (Michael Bartel), Ernie Hudson, Julianne Moore, Madeline Zima. 

Trivia: Remade as an Indian film in 1993 and in the U.S. as The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (2025).