There are true-crime documentaries that leave you fascinated. Others that leave you angry. Netflix's Maternal Instinct will leave you deeply unsettled.
At first, it appears to be a story about lies – a woman fakes a pregnancy, she adopts dozens of identities, fabricates business deals and convinces almost everyone around her that her fantasy life is real.
Then, slowly and horrifyingly, those lies lead somewhere far darker.
Maternal Instinct charts how Taylor Parker's extraordinary web of deception ultimately culminated in the 2020 murder of Reagan Simmons-Hancock, a pregnant woman from Texas.
Parker, we learn early in the film, made an immediate impression after moving to a rural East Texas community. Claiming to come from a wealthy family and due to inherit a fortune of her own soon, she quickly caught the attention of Wade Griffin, a hog trapper she met at a local rodeo.
Within three months of meeting, Parker moved in with Griffin and was showering him and his family with lavish gifts – from cars to cattle and even a supposed $4 million cash offer for a ranch in Oklahoma.
Soon, Parker would tell Griffin that she “was pretty sure she was pregnant” with their child.
As Parker shared details of their lives on social media, we learn that news of their seemingly perfect life and upcoming baby was met with scepticism by people who already knew her.
Through interviews with investigators, former friends and Griffin himself, the documentary gradually peels back the layers of Parker's elaborate fiction. The details are so extraordinary that they occasionally feel more suited to a Hollywood thriller than a true-crime documentary.
While the film never fully explains what drove her to construct such an elaborate fantasy, a sense of foreboding hangs over every revelation. With each new lie, viewers are left with the growing certainty that this carefully crafted facade is heading somewhere dark and that its eventual collapse will have devastating consequences.
Parker first met Reagan when she photographed Reagan's wedding as part of a side business. Family members recall how Parker quickly inserted herself into the celebration, appearing in wedding selfies and behaving more like a friend than a photographer. Over time, Reagan welcomed Parker into her life and, according to those interviewed, even defended her when others questioned aspects of her supposed pregnancy.
That history makes what followed all the more devastating.
The documentary's final act reconstructs the events of October 2020. Reagan, who was 35 weeks pregnant, disappeared after spending time with Parker. When calls went unanswered, her mother Jessica grew alarmed and headed to her daughter's home. What she discovered would become one of the most shocking crimes in recent American history.
While Maternal Instinct occasionally feels more like a meticulous reconstruction than a deeper examination of its central figure, it wisely avoids offering neat psychological explanations. The facts themselves are so astonishing that they propel the narrative forward, leaving viewers to grapple with the uncomfortable reality that some crimes simply defy understanding.
On November 9, 2022, Parker was sentenced to death by a Texas trial court upon the jury's unanimous recommendation for capital punishment.
Her appeals against her death sentence have now been rejected twice, most recently on May 29, 2026.
Now 33, she is currently the youngest woman on death row in Texas.
Maternal Instinct is a difficult watch, particularly for parents and expectant mothers, but also a compelling one. It is a story about lies, manipulation and obsession. More than anything, however, it is a reminder that some of the most frightening people are not strangers. They are the ones we trust enough to invite into our lives.
Maternal Instinct is available on Netflix globally
