“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” is a new Hulu streaming exclusive that may sound familiar to viewers of a certain age. That’s because it’s a remake of the 1992 Curtis Hanson directed film of the same name which starred Annabella Sciorra and Rebecca De Mornay. The original wasn’t a particularly great film, but it was an entertaining domestic thriller despite its silliness. This new spin on the story doesn’t fare quite as well.

Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera and written by Micah Bloomberg, this new iteration of Amanda Silver’s 1992 screenplay uses the basic framework of the original film but surrounds it with a considerably different and less convincing story. It’s enough to set the movie apart from its inspiration. But it’s mostly a drab contemporary reimaging that relies too much on the incompetence of characters and the willingness of audiences to go along no matter how frustrating things get.

The film stars a committed Mary Elizabeth Winstead who squeezes what she can out of her character. She plays Caitlin Morales, a successful Los Angeles attorney who has just given birth to her second daughter. The tightly wound Caitlin and her remarkably dense husband Miguel (Raúl Castillo) live comfortably in a swanky suburb where the only real inconvenience are speeding cars and the need of a stop sign.

Caitlin is set to return to work while hoping to avoid another poorly defined post-partum episode like the one that followed the birth of her first child. To help, Caitlin and Miguel decide to hire a nanny to help watch their 10-year-old Emma and newborn Josie. They decide on Polly Murphy (Maika Monroe), a former client at Caitlin’s firm who impresses Caitlin with her knowledgeable of saturated fats and microplastics. Polly wastes no time ingratiating herself to the family, even earning an invite to move into their guest room.

Amazingly Polly’s hushed intensity and ice-cold demeanor doesn’t set off warning sirens. Instead, she gains Caitlin and Miquel’s full trust. Of course we know immediately that she’s up to no good and is not the person she claims to be. We watch as Polly secretly breaks Caitlin’s rules to win the children’s affection and methodically works on turning Emma against her mother.

It takes a while before Caitlin finally grows suspicious but she gets no support from the oblivious Miguel who couldn’t see light if he were staring into the son. So we’re left to watch an hour of endless gaslighting as Polly pushes Caitlin over her psychological edge. It’s here that the frustration sets in as the movie becomes a near endless cycle of Polly’s ruthlessness, Caitlin’s suffering, and Miguel’s mind-boggling incognizance. Meanwhile any hint at a motive for Polly’s actions is stashed away until late in the movie when any chance at building suspense is gone.

Many of the movie’s wild swings at modernizing the story come off as thematically lazy. Look no further than its bungled attempt at addressing childhood trauma. Even more surprising is the lack of genuine tension, especially in a movie with this kind of premise. The pace does finally pick up as the movie races towards a payoff. But even then, the rush of final act reveals is too little too late. “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle” is streaming now exclusively on Hulu.

VERDICT – 2 STARS