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The Perfect Neighbor is Netflix's harrowing new documentary that unpacks the disastrous repercussions of what appeared to be a minor tiff between neighbours.
From Emmy-winning director Geeta Gandbhir, the documentary follows the 2023 murder of Ajike Owens, a Black mother, at the hands of her white neighbor, Susan Lorincz.
Relying on a collection of police bodycam footage, 911 calls, and interviews with participants, the documentary depicts the sequence of events leading up to the disaster. It also addresses the wider cultural wars around gun laws, racism, and neighbourliness.
The Perfect Neighbor screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and has garnered significant acclaim for its unflinching storytelling and ability to portray the humanity and complexities before the tragedy.
Where is The Perfect Neighbor filmed?
The documentary is one of a kind as it relies heavily on body cam footage. Hence, the film mainly shows real-life locations of Ocala, Florida, where the horror took place.
Gandbhir and her crew put together the video and audio recordings in such a way that makes the documentary feel very real. This kind of presentation allows the viewer to get a sense of place as the physical and social environments of a neighbourhood come to influence conduct, conflict, and response by law enforcement.
The documentary features bodycam footage to provide an unusual view of Susan Lorincz’s encounters with local police and community members. With these materials, the filmmakers were able to show an extended situation, rather than just the blow-up. The result is a documentary that is as immediate as it is intimate, and which places viewers at the very centre of events that may previously have seemed distant or perplexing.
The creative team behind The Perfect Neighbor
The Perfect Neighbor was co-produced by Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne, and Sam Bisbee. Alfredo De Lara serves as the cinematographer, with Viridiana Lieberman as the editor, and Laura Heinzinger has composed the score. With a keen eye on the systemic breakdowns that enabled the violence to escalate, the documentary is also a moving portrayal of a community and a victim.
Gandbhir explained to Variety:
“This story came to me through my family. Ajike Owens was my sister-in-law’s best friend. When this happened, Takema Robinson, who is also an executive producer came to us and told us what had happened. It was Florida, and Susan wasn’t immediately arrested. She was detained and released. They were concerned about the issues of her claiming Stand Your Ground. So my partner, Nikon Kwantu, also a producer, went down and we began filming to get the story out and try to get attention to the story.”
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The documentary also draws on Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws, probing how legal codes intersect with societal strains and access to guns. In capturing events leading up to the shooting, the documentary reveals a series of human and institutional failings that are seldom identified in crime reporting. This multi-pronged narrative allows The Perfect Neighbor to evolve into a larger social treatise on security, responsibility, and the price of inaction.
With its deliberate narrative, the documentary ascertains that the story of Ajike Owens is not only remembered but is also seen as a window into larger systemic problems. The Perfect Neighbor is a must-watch for those looking for a deeper understanding of the crime/law/community nexus.
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