The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a 1992 American psychological thriller film directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Annabella Sciorra, Rebecca De Mornay, Matt McCoy, Ernie Hudson, and Julianne Moore. Its plot follows the pregnant wife of a Seattle obstetrician who kills himself after he is accused of sexual misconduct by his patients. The shock leads the wife to miscarry, after which she poses as a nanny for one of her husband's accusers, and slowly begins to infiltrate the family. The title is taken from an 1865 poem by William Ross Wallace and there are several nods to the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle grossed approximately $140 million worldwide. The film was remade into a Hindi film by the name Khal-Naaikaa in 1993.
Plot
In Seattle, housewife Claire Bartel is happily married and pregnant with her second child. At a routine check-up, she is sexually molested by her new obstetrician, Dr. Victor Mott. Traumatized, she tells her husband Michael, who encourages her to report Dr. Mott to the state medical board. Her accusation prompts four more women to come forward about Dr. Mott assaulting them, and multiple charges are prepared against him. Dr. Mott commits suicide to avoid being arrested. Lawyers tell Dr. Mott's pregnant widow that her husband's assets have been frozen because of the lawsuits. They also reveal that he voided his life insurance contract by committing suicide, and she will lose her luxurious home. Stressed, Mrs. Mott goes into pre-term labor, loses her baby, and undergoes an emergency hysterectomy. While recovering, she sees a news story identifying Claire as the first woman who came forward with the allegations against her husband.
Six months later, Claire has given birth to a boy, Joey. Looking for a nanny, she unknowingly hires Mrs. Mott, who is going under the alias "Peyton Flanders". Mrs. Mott wages a campaign to undermine Claire in her household, seeking revenge against Claire for reporting her husband in spite of his behavior, as her husband was her only chance to have children. She frequently breastfeeds Joey in secret; this causes him to stop taking Claire's milk. Mrs. Mott tries to turn Claire's daughter Emma against her and secretly destroys Michael's office proposal. Solomon, an intellectually disabled handyman who has been assisting the Bartels, discovers Mrs. Mott breastfeeding Joey. To prevent him from exposing her, Mrs. Mott suggests to Claire that Solomon might be molesting Emma. Mrs. Mott plants a pair of Emma's underwear in Solomon's toolbox, leading Claire to fire him, to Emma's disappointment and causing her to distance herself from her mother as Mrs. Mott had planned. Unbeknownst to the family except for Emma, Solomon keeps his watchful eyes over them. Knowing that Claire's close friend Marlene had been Michael's ex-girlfriend before he married Claire, Mrs. Mott suggests to Michael that he arrange a surprise birthday party for Claire, leading Marlene and Michael to meet in secret. Claire vocally accuses Michael of having an affair with Marlene, only to find the party-goers, including a hurt and humiliated Marlene, waiting in the next room.
A now wary Claire begins to suspect "Peyton's" hand in all of these incidents and suggests to Michael that they should take a family vacation without "Peyton". Mrs. Mott overhears this and boobytraps the greenhouse for Claire. Marlene discovers Mrs. Mott's identity, but before she can tell Claire, Mrs. Mott tricks her into going into the greenhouse, where she is killed by the falling glass ceiling. Knowing that Claire suffers from asthma, Mrs. Mott empties all of her inhalers. When Claire finds Marlene's bloodied body, she has an asthma attack and is briefly hospitalized. Michael is left distraught over Marlene's death and his wife's condition; Mrs. Mott attempts to seduce him, but he rejects her. Claire uncovers the truth about Mrs. Mott and confronts her whilst revealing the truth to Michael. They kick her out, and Michael tells Claire to get Emma and Joey so they can head to a hotel for safety.