When it comes to getting excited for upcoming horror movies when we know that Maika Monroe is going to be the star of one, we’re always thrilled about what we’re about to see. The 32-year-old actress has spent the past decade of her career being in a ton of great scary movies, from It Follows to one of our standout favorites of 2024, Longlegs. It has earned the coveted “Scream Queen” status, which only makes her latest and very different role in The Hand That Rocks The Cradle even more satisfying. Some SPOILERS are ahead.
When we talked to Maika Monroe about her relationship with horror a few years ago, she admitted it wasn’t an “intentional” career move on her part. It started when she booked a movie called The Guest when she “had no money” to even get a flight back to her home in Los Angeles from New York. Not long after that, she also booked It Follows, and genre films have become her niche ever since. Here’s how The Hand That Rocks The Cradle came to the actress:
It just stumbled into my inbox, and I was like, ‘Yes to this.’ I mean, I read it and it was like, ‘Oh my God, like I have to do this.’ And I knew it would be challenging and I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park type of role, but what fun if it’s not a bit of a challenge. So yeah, I was very excited to step into the villain’s shoes.
During CinemaBlend’s recent interview with Monroe, I asked her if she’d been waiting for a role like Polly Murphy, which disrupts her pattern of playing final girls. Once again, the move wasn’t some active one from the star, but the result of successfully checking her email. But once she did learn it, she was totally invested in playing the villain for once in a horror flick.
In The Hand That Rocks The Cradle is a remake of the 1992 film of the same title. Monroe plays Polly, a babysitter whom Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Caitlin Morales hires to take care of her two young children as she juggles her career as a Los Angeles attorney while being a wife and mother. As Polly and Caitlin spend more time together, Caitlin begins to suspect Polly has secret malicious behavior in her home, and I’m definitely still thinking about the ending (and what Winstead and the director told us about it).
In the hands of critically acclaimed director Michelle Garza Cervera, Monroe gets to flex some different muscles as an actress who has a history of having bad things done to her in her most famous genre films. You can check out what our The Hand That Rocks The Cradle review says about her excellent performance.
Looking to the future, Monroe continues to have an exciting round of projects on the way. She’s going to be in the next Colleen Hoover movie and was cast in another horror movie with Margaret Qualley called Victorian Psycho. She’s also attached to a sequel to It Follows as well. As the actress continues to outdo herself with each role, I love that she flipped expectations with her latest movie.