Movies - The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

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	Movies - The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a 1992 thriller starring Rebecca De Mornay as a vengeful nanny out to destroy a naïve woman and steal her family. The film was directed by Curtis Hanson.

Synopsis

Introduction

Annabella Sciorra stars as Claire Bartel, a woman who at the beginning of the film is pregnant with her second child. Claire is molested by her obstetrician, Dr. Victor Mott (played by John de Lancie), on a routine checkup. After Claire tells her husband Michael (played by Matt McCoy) about being sexually violated, the couple decide to confront the authorities regarding the incident. More women come forward to corroborate the Bartels' story. Feeling that his career is over, Dr. Mott commits suicide in his home when he hears about the possibility of criminal indictments and with them, possible imprisonment as a sex offender. After Dr. Mott's funeral, Mrs. Mott (DeMornay) miscarries their child, and while recovering in the hospital, sees Claire Bartel's picture on the local news, Claire having been identified as the first woman to come forward with allegations against Dr. Mott. Mrs. Mott then begins planning her revenge.

Six months later

Six months later, Claire has since given birth to her son, Joey. The Bartels have hired Solomon (played by Ernie Hudson), a mentally handicapped worker placed by the "Better Day Society" to perform some handiwork (for example, building a new picket fence) around the house. One morning, Claire is running after her daughter Emma's (played by Madeline Zima) school bus because she forgot to give Emma her jacket. Luckily, the school bus is stopped by Mrs. Mott, now using the alias Peyton Flanders. Peyton asks Claire if she knows where the Bartels live, and Claire responds that she is Claire Bartel. Peyton says she'd heard that the Bartels were looking for a nanny, and Claire agrees to interview her on the spot.

The Bartels' new nanny

Of course, Peyton turns out to be the perfect candidate for the Bartels' new nanny. She is hired after deliberately placing the back of one of Claire's earrings (which was constantly falling off) into baby Joey's mouth and feigning the baby's rescue from potentially choking.

The night Peyton moves in she immediately begins breast-feeding Joey. Soon thereafter Joey will not take to Claire's breast.

Peyton begins her sabotage

Claire and Michael then have a dinner date with friends Marlene (played by Julianne Moore) and Marty Craven. Marlene tells Claire that she should never let another woman take such a powerful position within her home. She then utters the line, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."

Claire supposedly misplaces an important proposal of Michael's that was supposed to be sent via Federal Express. What really happened is that Peyton stole it out of Claire's purse and destroyed it. When she can't find the proposal, she has an asthma attack, and Peyton realizes she can use this to her advantage.

Peyton sets up Solomon

Peyton catches Solomon looking at her while breast-feeding Joey. In order to get rid of him, Peyton plants a pair of Emma's underwear in his utility cart and tells Claire that it seems as though "someone was bothering Emma". Claire finds the underwear while looking for batteries for Joey's baby monitor, which Peyton says has "conked out".

The surprise party

Peyton decides to throw a surprise party for Claire's birthday, given that Claire has not been "herself" lately. Michael agrees and Peyton suggests letting Marlene help plan the party, knowing that Michael and Marlene were each other's "first" (information that she gleaned from Emma).

Peyton steals Marlene's lighter out of her purse after Marlene and Claire have lunch. Later, Peyton plants it in Michael's coat pocket. When Michael meets Marlene for dinner, Peyton goads Claire on, saying, "I wonder where Michael is." Claire calls Michael's lab, but he, of course, is nowhere to be found.

Claire then finds Marlene's lighter in Michael's coat pocket when taking the coat to the cleaners. Claire rushes home and accuses Michael of "f**king" Marlene. Unfortunately, she does this while her living room is full of people — it's her surprise party.

Marlene finds out the truth about Peyton

After Peyton overhears Michael and Claire talking about taking a trip as a family (read: without Peyton), Peyton gets even more psychotic. She plans Claire's murder by waking up at dawn and propping open Claire's greenhouse windows with a shovel.

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