[Interview] Michelle Garza Cervera on Reimagining THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE

Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios

By Shannon McGrew

In THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, director Michelle Garza Cervera puts a modern twist on the ’90s classic thriller. The film follows Caitlin Morales (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an upscale suburban mom who hires a new nanny, Polly Murphy (Maika Monroe), only to discover she’s not who she seems.

For the release of THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, Creepy Kingdom’s Shannon McGrew spoke with director Michelle Garza Cervera (Huesera: The Bone Woman). During their chat, they discussed everything from reimagining a ’90s classic through a modern lens to exploring morally gray female characters and the fears that lurk within domestic life.

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE was such an iconic '90s thriller. How did you want to differentiate your version from the original? 

Michelle Garza Cervera: I love the idea of someone coming to your house and trying to take over. I feel like it’s pretty sinister. I took a while to think about it because I’m not a huge fan of remakes, but then it stuck with me because domestic thrillers are one of my favorite things ever. This challenged the idea of good and evil, with characters who are more in the gray area than one-sided. They could be victims, but they can also be the ones doing terrible things. I really love that. To have these two characters where you don’t know where to stand with them, I think, was the core change that we wanted to bring for this reimagining. 

Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Your work often explores the intersection of the sacred and the monstrous, especially in femininity. Can you talk about how this film was perfect for that exploration? 

Michelle Garza Cervera: There’s a lack of female characters with these contradictions that challenge the way women have been portrayed in movie history. I’m a big fan of so many movies throughout film history that have had that, but it’s not common. There’s this tendency to hold us as like the good woman or the evil woman. I really love to have these characters be flawed, contradictory, and hard to understand. In thrillers, we often see women as just victims, so I love seeing these amazing actresses play cool, layered, wild characters in psychological thrillers. 

Horror often reflects societal fears, so what do you think THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE taps into for today’s audience? 

Michelle Garza Cervera: There’s definitely a big fear of what you allow inside of your house and in your life. I’ve always worked that into my work. Those things that come from the outside that you’re scared of, maybe are the ones that you need to understand something that has been breaking you apart. The dark force is kind of like a teacher in that way, or the situation brings something to our main character that she needed to go through, even if it’s horrific and sinister.  

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE is now streaming on Hulu.