Hulu has revealed the first trailer for its remake of the 33-year-old psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. The 1992 film depicts a vengeful widow who infiltrates the home of the woman who was ᴀssaulted by her late husband, blaming her for how wrong her life went following her husband’s crimes being brought to light.

Hulu’s modern reimagining stars 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Caitlin (a married mother) and Longlegs‘s Maika Monroe as Polly (a vengeful nanny). The new movie also stars Martin Starr, Raúl Castillo, and Mileiah Vega. Check out the first trailer for 2025’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle below:

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is directed by Michelle Garza Cervera — who garnered acclaim for her debut feature Huesera: The Bone Woman — and written by Micah Bloomberg and Amanda Silver. Garza Cervera spoke with ScreenRant about The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, stressing again that it will not be a direct remake of the original. Check out the director’s comments below:

We kept the plot, we kept some of the dynamics [of] having a 10-year-old girl, a baby, [and] the ages of the characters, but the whole thing, the city [and] the themes particularly are very different. The motivations for revenge and the way the conflict grows in the film … it’s particular to this new story and characters.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle will be released on Hulu on October 22.

What This Means For Hulu’s The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

Hulu’s first trailer, dropping about a month ahead of the streaming movie’s planned release, suggests a conflict that spirals out of control in a different way from the events of the original The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Alongside the first images that were released from The Hand That Rocks the Cradle‘s remake, Garza Cervera teased both leads being morally ambiguous, saying:

Instead of having just a victim and a perpetrator, they’re both in gray areas.

The 1992 film doesn’t really allow for this, because although Peyton (the original version of Polly) tragically loses everything, including her own baby, in the wake of Claire (Caitlin) accusing her husband of Sєxual ᴀssault, the latter is clearly also a victim whose family doesn’t deserve to be terrorized by the nanny.

Garza Cervera suggests that the motivations for Polly’s revenge plan are now different, and that Caitlin isn’t so innocent. Thus, as is shown in the trailer, the new The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is primed to explore different themes of motherhood as Polly drives a wedge between Caitlin and her children.

Our Take On The Hand That Rocks The Cradle’s Trailer

It will be interesting to see how the new The Hand That Rocks the Cradle portrays Caitlin when the trailer still suggests that Polly is the sinister one, being welcomed into Caitlin’s home before becoming a threat to the family physically, as well as to their relationships.

Ironically, the recently released trailer for The Housemaid suggests an inverted dynamic, where Sydney Sweeney portrays a new hire and Amanda Seyfried a wealthy housewife who turns out to be very dangerous. Coincidental though it may be, the industry will see in the coming months which of these similar thrillers appeals to audiences the most.