YMMV / The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

• Adults Are Useless: When Mrs. Mott confronts Emma's bully at school, why are there no teachers? The kids are in a non-enclosed playground - Mrs. Mott just walked in - and apparently unsupervised. And at least one of the students who witnessed Mrs. Mott assaulting the bully must have said something, but there was no follow-up. Certainly the school should have contacted Emma's parents after her nanny assaulted a student on school grounds.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Was Mrs. Mott always a cold psychopath, or did she become this after losing her husband, her house and wealth, and her baby within a few days? The former is strongly implied, she says that her late husband was the only person who "understood" her, and the fact that she remained loyal to his memory even after revelations of his sexually abusing his patients implies that Dr. and Mrs. Mott supported one another's pathological behaviors.
  • On the other hand, someone who thinks like Mrs. Mott would be probably be enraged to find out her husband was routinely cheating on her, and it's also possible she might not have taken it out on him because she couldn't personally take it out on him since he was dead. Or since she didn't get the opportunity to do so, it's possible that she prioritized her feelings for him over his cheating.
• Catharsis Factor: Claire pushing Mrs. Mott out the window to her death is a satisfying relief.
• Designated Hero: Claire can be this for some viewers. Mainly because she seems more interested in growing plants than wanting to spend time with her own children.
• Fridge Horror: Mrs. Mott isn't able to make Claire think Solomon's molesting Emma just because it's every parent's worst nightmare. It's also because what Dr. Mott did to her has made her extra paranoid, which raises the possibility that she knew all along what kind of a sicko she was married to, but chose to turn a blind eye.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Seeing Claire being molested/taken advantage of by a more powerful man with an elevated status looks much worse since twenty-five years later, her actress, Annabella Sciorra, would publicly accuse Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment/assault. Also, like with Claire/Annabella, several other women have come forward with accusations as well.
• Hollywood Homely: No makeup and plain clothing is supposedly enough to make Annabella Sciorra the dowdy alternative to Rebecca De Mornay and Julianne Moore.
• Jerkass Woobie: Mrs. Mott. Yes, she's utterly ruthless in her plot to ruin Claire's life and steal her family from her, but given how she underwent a downright painful Trauma Conga Line that included losing her husband, money and unborn child (as well as her ability to have another due to the emergency hysterectomy), it's hard not to feel just a tiny bit sorry for her.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • Claire successfully faking an asthma attack to get Mrs. Mott's guard down in the climax before invoking the Mama Bear fight on her.
  • Emma gets one herself, displaying a sharp mind for a girl her age by locking Mrs. Mott in the nursery, telling her "You're not my mommy!" and trying to get Joey to safety.
• Moral Event Horizon: Mrs. Mott crosses this when she frames Solomon for molesting Emma, causing him to get fired. And she just goes further from there...
• One-Scene Wonder: John de Lancie as Dr. Mott.
• Rooting for the Empire: A lot of viewers can't help but root for Mrs. Mott, mainly due to DeMornay's excellent and charismatic performance compared to the rather bland protagonists.
• The Woobie: Solomon.