Parenting isn't child’s play. And when it goes wrong, the results can be devastating, sometimes even deadly.
These true crime stories reveal what happens when those trusted to protect, fail in the most spectacular way. From overbearing mothers to paranoid fathers, here are five chilling documentaries about bad parenting to stream.
Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke (Disney+)
This shocking documentary begins with a haunting footage of a grainy doorbell camera which shows a malnourished young boy pleading to be taken to the nearest police station. The boy, 12, is then revealed to be the son of Ruby Franke, an influencer who, at the height of her fame, had more than 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube.
Investigations would soon reveal more chilling details, including the boy's sister, 10, who was also found malnourished at the home of Franke's friend and counselor Jodi Hildebrandt, also an YouTuber.
As the documentary pieces together the chilling details, it reveals how Franke – through her YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which showcased her life with husband Kevin and their six children – became consumed with projecting the image of the perfect family.
When her children rebelled and cracks begin to show, she turned to Hildebrandt who convinces Franke that it was the devil who was threatening to destroy her family through her kids and suggests extreme measures of punishment, from starvation to torture.
The film features testimonies by Franke's two eldest children, Shari and Chad, as well as her husband Kevin and friends and family, and serves as a warning about the perils of lives lived online.
Franke and Hildebrandt were found guilty of felony aggravated child abuse and sentenced to serve between four and 30 years in prison each in February last year.
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (Netflix)
In 2020, 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend Owen began receiving abusive texts from an unknown number. The messages stopped and then resumed a year later, devolving into a daily barrage of threats and vile insults over the next year, many of them containing information that only someone close to Lauryn could have known.
When the pair's concerned parents and school officials turn to authorities for help, a number of classmates and friends become suspects – the speculation fracturing many relationships in the process.
But the revelation of the true culprit sends shockwaves through their tight-knit community, revealing the destruction cyberbullying can wreak and the important conversations parents and children need to have about technology and trust.
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing (Netflix)
YouTuber Piper Rockelle is now 18, but her rise to internet stardom began at the age of eight with the help of momager Tiffany Smith. Together, the mother and daughter formed The Squad, featuring a number of other aspiring child stars who would appear alongside Piper on her videos, staging elaborate pranks, sharing their crushes and just being silly while racking up billions of views.
But soon, several members of The Squad and their parents began to question Smith's motives, with some accusing her of exploitation, cult-like manipulation and even abuse of their children. The accusations resulted in a lawsuit in 2022 where 11 squad members and their guardians accused Smith of not properly compensating them for their work. Smith, who denied the charges, settled with her accusers last year for $1.85 million.
The three-part docuseries features former members of The Squad and their parents revealing many disturbing aspects of the lives of child influencers.
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (Netflix)
The disturbing series centres on the Murdaugh family, whose patriarch, Alex, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2023 after he was convicted of killing his wife and son.
Having inherited the family law firm, which was started by his great-grandfather, the imposing Alex knew and held influence over everyone that mattered, including judges, police officers and even the jury members he would see in the courtroom.
On June 7, 2021, in a gasped 911 call, Alex is heard telling authorities that his wife Maggie and son Paul had been shot on the family property. Maggie died from gunshots to the chest and back “as though running away”, while Paul died from gunshots to his chest and neck.
As the series peels back on the family's troubling history, other suspicious deaths related to them are revealed, including the death of Paul's friend Stephen Smith in 2015, and the death of the Murdaugh’s housekeeper of 20 years, Gloria Satterfield, who died from a fall at their home in 2018.
In 2019, a boat steered by Paul, who was 19 at the time, which was carrying five of his friends, crashed into a bridge killing passenger Mallory Beach.
It is also revealed that Alex was addicted to prescription pills, which he later claimed in court cost $50,000 a week to fund.
Featuring hospital CCTV to courtroom videos, 911 calls as well as interviews with lawyers, private investigators and journalists, the series looks at how a prominent family used and abused their wealth and privilege to the extreme.
Murdaugh: Death in the Family, a miniseries based on the Murdaugh Murders Podcast, is set to premiere on October 15 on Disney+. The show stars Jason Clarke as Alex and Patricia Arquette as his wife Maggie.
Mommy Dead and Dearest (OSN+)
For years, Dee Dee Blanchard successfully convinced family and friends and a host of medical professionals and charities that her daughter Gypsy Rose suffered from leukemia and muscular dystrophy, and had a mental age of seven.
Blanchard was believed to have suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental condition where a caregiver induces illness in someone in their care as a means of gaining sympathy or attention.
Rose, who was mostly wheelchair-bound, knew the truth but continued with the charade out of fear of her mother.
In 2012, after meeting Nicholas Godejohn online, which eventually morphed into a physical relationship, Rose began developing a plan to kill her mother, which Godejohn carried through in June, 2015. Her bizarre story, about a life lived in a web of lies which eventually led to the murder, is retold in this chilling documentary.
In 2016, Rose was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of her mother, while Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Rose's story was also turned into the 2019 TV series The Act, which earned Patricia Arquette an Emmy for her portrayal of Blanchard.
Since her release from prison in December 2023, Rose has become quite the celebrity, and starred in her own reality show, Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock-up, which is also available to stream on OSN+.
