Review of the Netflix Documentary Maternal Instinct rating *****
The thing that makes any story compelling is conflict. That’s why so many people are drawn to true crime. Murder is conflict on steroids. This case is tragic on many levels, but it all starts with a lie. The person who tells this lie is Brooke Crews. It’s a lie other women in Brooke’s situation have also told: in order to keep a man from walking out, she claims she’s pregnant.
It’s the kind of lie meant to buy time. As long as women like Brooke can keep the lie alive, maybe they can salvage a relationship barreling toward separation. Some will go to extremes to make the lie believable — wearing prosthetics, faking ultrasounds, faking pregnancy tests. Brooke goes through all of these stages and more, even hosting a gender‑reveal party.
A pregnancy lie has a time limit – nine months
But this isn’t Brooke’s first lie. She is a pathological liar who thrives on attention. She’s also a narcissist whose sense of self is tied to how others see her. She wants to be the center of attention, and grandiose lies — like claiming she bought a four‑million‑dollar property — give her exactly the validation she craves. That lie is part of an even bigger one involving a supposed eight‑million‑dollar inheritance. If only her mother would stop mucking things up.
But a pregnancy lie has a time limit — nine months. And Brooke’s lie has another problem: she had a hysterectomy years earlier and is physically unable to have children. Some people know the truth but stay quiet. Doctors know the truth but are bound by confidentiality laws. And time keeps marching toward the due date she invented.
Brooke lives in a fantasy world where she believes her own lies. But she knows she can’t lie her way out of this one. She waits too long to claim a miscarriage. She starts Googling things like how to adopt a newborn. Eventually, she comes up with another, far more sinister plan, and begins searching how to perform a C‑section.
I’m not giving away spoilers here. You learn early on that Brooke is a suspect in a murder involving a woman whose baby was cut from her womb. The identity of the victim — twenty‑two‑year‑old Savanna Greywind — is revealed later as the story unfolds.
If I were to describe this documentary in one word, it would be heartbreaking.