One of the year’s most powerful documentaries, "The Perfect Neighbor," just got a new trailer ahead of its October 17 premiere on Netflix that's already seared into my brain. It's composed almost entirely from police body-cam footage, immersing you in a harrowing real-life horror story of a neighborhood dispute turned bloody that, as sad as it is to say, is also deeply American.
The documentary comes from Emmy Award-winning director Geeta Gandbhir, one of the minds behind Netflix's most binged docuseries of the summer, "Katrina: Come Hell and High Water." One of the most talked-about films at this year's Sundance festival, "The Perfect Neighbor" won Gandbhir a directing award and earned a rare 100% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's already shaping up to be an early frontrunner for this year's Oscars circuit.
"The Perfect Neighbor" explores a 2023 tragedy in a tight-knit Florida community stemming from a disgruntled resident named Susan Lorincz. As shown in the trailer, which you can check out below, Gandbhir relies heavily on police bodycam footage to piece together the escalating tensions as Lorincz repeatedly clashes with her (predominantly Black) neighbors, often calling the police to complain about kids being kids on her street. Y'know, typical "Karen" behavior. But Lorincz's microaggressions gradually unfold into something far more disturbing.
When she finally snaps, she fatally shoots her Black neighbor, Ajike Owens, a mother of four. Lorincz invoked Florida's stand-your-ground law, which protects individuals who use deadly force if they believe they are facing an imminent threat.
Through police bodycam footage that captures real-time interactions between law enforcement and neighbors, the film highlights the profound impact of these controversial yet commonly invoked laws. Infamously, stand-your-ground laws came under intense scrutiny in another Florida case in 2013, in which a former neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of all charges after killing Trayvon Martin while the high school student was visiting his father.
Gandbhir lets the facts unfold with chilling clarity as police arrive on the scene and launch their investigation. Still, a haunting question remains: Will justice prevail, or will a legal system designed to disenfranchise our most vulnerable communities excuse the inexcusable?
I know the answer is only going to piss me off, as anyone familiar with this case or any of the countless others like it that have fueled the Black Lives Matter movement can attest to. But that righteous fury has only fueled "The Perfect Neighbor's" rise to the top of my must-watch list. I'm far from the only one excited for Gandbhir's latest project; critics have been singing its praises for months now, ever since it premiered at Sundance.
Writing for Forbes, entertainment reporter Scott Phillips said the heavy reliance on police body cam footage makes you feel like "a fly on the wall for Lorincz’s numerous interviews with homicide detectives."
"This is powerful, compelling filmmaking that doesn’t lose the human cost in the true crime trappings of it all. Expect this film to go the distance when it comes to Oscar nominations next year," he continued.
Justin Chang of The New Yorker similarly heralded the director's unique approach. "Through these reams of footage, brilliantly pieced together by the editor Viridiana Lieberman, a pattern of devastating coherence emerges," he wrote.
"The Perfect" Neighbor will open in select theaters on October 10 before making its way to Netflix on Friday, October 17.
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