After starring in the acclaimed box office hit Longlegs, Makia Monroe has set her sights on her next horror project, and some old-school fans of the genre may recognize the name. She will be playing an evil nanny in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, a horror thriller that first released over 20 years ago. It will be a reimagining of the original 1992 film and will be produced by 20th Century Studios, who released the critically-acclaimed The First Omen earlier this year, a new installment of a classic horror franchise.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Maika Monroe books her first role after Longlegs in the 20th Century Studios-produced remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, directed by Michelle Garza Cervera (Huesera: The Bone Woman). The original film followed Mrs. Mott (Rebecca De Mornay), a recent widow who seeks to enact revenge on Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) by posing as a nanny to take over her life and family before eventually murdering her. Monroe is set to play the vengeful nanny, who serves as the antagonist and one of the main characters of the film. It’s not clear who is playing the mother, or if the film will be taking extensive liberties with the material. No matter the case, Monroe finds her next major role in a film by one of the biggest working studios today, an outlier from her typical lower-budget releases.
Longlegs Is the Best Horror Film of 2024 (So Far)
In Longlegs, directed by Oz Perkins, Maika Monroe plays FBI agent Lee Harker, a gifted yet somewhat peculiar character that harbors a mysterious past with ties to the film’s central mystery. Harker is tasked with finding Longlegs (Nicolas Cage), a serial killer that has been murdering families for decades, who leaves zodiac-like messages only she has been able to decipher. It’s a new rendition of The Silence of the Lambs, but it finds its own spot in the horror genre thanks to a brilliant performance by Monroe and gorgeous cinematography. Oh, and one can’t forget about Cage’s deeply unsettling performance as Longlegs, a subversive character that isn’t at all like most horror movie villains.
Before Longlegs, Monroe had comfortably settled herself in the horror genre with several acclaimed films. It Follows was her breakout role, an innovative low-budget feature that is finally receiving a sequel after all of these years. She also most recently starred in 2022’s Watcher, a horror-thriller by director Chloe Okuno. In 2016, she tried her hand at major blockbusters with Independence Day: Resurgence, but the less said about that film the better. Monroe is becoming a must-watch horror star, and her next project only fuels her ascent into genre stardom.
Longlegs
is available to rent or buy on premium digital platforms.