One of the most effective 90’s thrillers I’ve come across. It’s clear Amanda Silver was inspired by the golden age drama/thriller through not just the concept but specifically the character writing, I can so clearly picture Bette Davis as Peyton and someone like Olivia de Havilland as Claire lead and I simply haven’t come across that feeling in this modern a film so I have to commend Silver on coming up with what is truly one of my favorite thriller concepts of the past 40 years. And even though this would’ve been better off with those names I mentioned in the leads being made in the 90’s also helps it out a lot, the similarities to the golden age drama/thriller only get better with how I’ve seen so many of them in this style needing to adhere to the hays code but this one didn’t, it made for some truly jarring moments and I think that piece of it specifically contributed a lot to my immersion. There’s also a lot in this story and especially the character work that I want to talk about, immediately I was ready to write off Mrs. Mott as purely evil or insane but as I thought more on her character I started to realize this entire act of “vengeance” was just denial guided by the horrific trauma she endured. I think it’s very telling that Peyton didn’t even ask Claire about what happened with Mr. Mott once, after losing her baby and husband she’s just hellbent on restoring what should’ve been her family and the “revenge” part for what happened with her husband is where the denial, also caused by that trauma, comes in, and the “revenge” is also just a means to restore that family. As far as the actual narrative goes and in the way of the script I had a lot of fun with both, there’s a few criticisms to be made for sure but overall I thought the dialogue writing flowed very well and all the performers were able to elevate it. Speaking of the performers I thought everyone here was great, obviously Rebecca de Mornay is my standout but I loved Annabella Sciorra, Ernie Hudson, Madeline Zima, Matt McCoy, and of course Julianne Moore too, this really might be one of the most underrated ensembles of the 90’s. I haven’t even mentioned the technical filmmaking here with how much the story’s given me to talk about but it’s also great, Curtis Hanson’s directorial vision worked well here and the set design and editing were both very well done, I also thought Graeme Revell’s score did a lot for the tension. I went scrolling on Netflix and put this on because I knew nothing about it so it’s safe to say my expectations were exceeded by The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, after watching I’m most excited to see whatever else Amanda Silver has written because this story really had me in a chokehold.
One of the most effective 90’s thrillers I’ve come across. It’s clear Amanda Silver was inspired by the golden age drama/thriller through not just the concept but specifically the character writing, I can so clearly picture Bette Davis as Peyton and someone like Olivia de Havilland as Claire lead and I simply haven’t come across that feeling in this modern a film so I have to commend Silver on coming up with what is truly one of my favorite thriller concepts of the past 40 years. And even though this would’ve been better off with those names I mentioned in the leads being made in the 90’s also helps it out a lot, the similarities to the golden age drama/thriller only get better with how I’ve seen so many of them in this style needing to adhere to the hays code but this one didn’t, it made for some truly jarring moments and I think that piece of it specifically contributed a lot to my immersion. There’s also a lot in this story and especially the character work that I want to talk about, immediately I was ready to write off Mrs. Mott as purely evil or insane but as I thought more on her character I started to realize this entire act of “vengeance” was just denial guided by the horrific trauma she endured. I think it’s very telling that Peyton didn’t even ask Claire about what happened with Mr. Mott once, after losing her baby and husband she’s just hellbent on restoring what should’ve been her family and the “revenge” part for what happened with her husband is where the denial, also caused by that trauma, comes in, and the “revenge” is also just a means to restore that family. As far as the actual narrative goes and in the way of the script I had a lot of fun with both, there’s a few criticisms to be made for sure but overall I thought the dialogue writing flowed very well and all the performers were able to elevate it. Speaking of the performers I thought everyone here was great, obviously Rebecca de Mornay is my standout but I loved Annabella Sciorra, Ernie Hudson, Madeline Zima, Matt McCoy, and of course Julianne Moore too, this really might be one of the most underrated ensembles of the 90’s. I haven’t even mentioned the technical filmmaking here with how much the story’s given me to talk about but it’s also great, Curtis Hanson’s directorial vision worked well here and the set design and editing were both very well done, I also thought Graeme Revell’s score did a lot for the tension. I went scrolling on Netflix and put this on because I knew nothing about it so it’s safe to say my expectations were exceeded by The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, after watching I’m most excited to see whatever else Amanda Silver has written because this story really had me in a chokehold.
