‘Maternal Instinct’ (2026) Netflix Movie Review - A Gripping True Crime Tale With Tunnel Vision

On October 9, 2020, Taylor Parker drove to her friend Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock's house, brutally murdered her, and then cut open her abdomen to steal her unborn baby. Taylor, who at the time was in a relationship with her boyfriend Wade Griffin, had been deceiving his friends and family about her pregnancy, going so far as to buy a fake belly, and days after her "due date," she ended up committing the horrible crime. Maternal Instinct, a documentary directed by Jessica Dimmock, recounts that incident and the events that preceded it with the help of Taylor's friends, ex-colleagues, realtors, doctors, Wade, and his friends and family.

Most interviewees, for the most part, agree that Taylor appeared cheerful, friendly, kind, and polite in the beginning. She used to light up the room with her ear-to-ear smile. One person describes her as a "normal country girl," while another praises her warm, welcoming disposition. No one initially suspected Taylor of being hostile. They accepted her eagerly. However, the more time they spent with her, the more cracks they began to detect in her sunny disposition. Eventually, nearly everyone caught on to her lies and realized the danger she posed. The major exception was Wade, who, for a long time, continued to believe Taylor and hoped that her claims about an inheritance and her pregnancy would prove valid.

Why did Wade latch onto Taylor so firmly that it ruined his friendship and damaged his reputation in the community? His mother mentions that people turn away from him or start gossiping about him when they spot him. Was Wade captivated by Taylor's performance of the dutiful, submissive partner? She obeyed his instructions and made sure she cooked good food for him. Taylor sounds like the kind of woman that men with a patriarchal mindset refer to as "wife material" and "a paragon of decency." Is it possible that she stroked Wade's male ego so effectively that he refused to see through her veneer? What about all those claims about inheritance money? Was Wade so enticed by the prospect of becoming wealthy that it contributed to his refusal to break up with Taylor even after a part of him began to suspect that she might not be who she claimed to be? What about Wade's friends? Did they feel a little jealous when they learned he might soon become wealthy? Did the attitudes of Wade and his family members change, even slightly, when they thought they would be getting rich?

These are uncomfortable questions, and the reason for bringing them up is to show that a good documentary, like a good piece of investigative journalism, dives deep into every nook and cranny to paint a comprehensive picture that encompasses a wide range of viewpoints. By keeping Taylor at the center, Dimmock could have exposed a certain facet of society that produces people like her—people who seek validation from strangers and constantly need to be the center of attention. Why is she like this? Does she suffer from a medical condition? What was her childhood like? Why does she hate her mother? I am not asking you to sympathize with Taylor; she absolutely deserves her punishment. But Dimmock presents her case as if it exists in isolation.

There is, for instance, no mention of Lisa Montgomery, who in 2004 strangled an expectant mother, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, then cut open the victim's womb and kidnapped her baby. Lisa herself was a victim of severe childhood abuse, including gang rape and torture, which contributed to profound mental illness later in life.

I found an article in The Guardian that cites a neurologist describing Taylor's condition as frontal lobe syndrome, which, a quick Google search will tell you, is not a standalone disease but a consequence of damage to frontal-subcortical networks. I think Taylor's mother could have shed more light on this. Why did she not participate in the documentary? Did the filmmakers contact her only for her to decline an appearance? The film offers no answers.

There are too many angles to this story that Dimmock unfortunately leaves untouched and unexamined. By constructing a straightforward narrative around Taylor's crime, she takes the easier route, presenting a monster that everybody can point at and condemn without considering the factors that help produce such devils. Dimmock, in other words, has made a sensational horror movie that is undoubtedly devastating but not especially deep. Maternal Instinct is driven by myopic instincts.

Final Score - [5.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times