This film was screened in August of 2025 at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
A documentary made up almost entirely of police body camera footage, The Perfect Neighbour tracks the events preceding and occurring after the killing of Ajike Owens. It’s a likely oscar contender, particularly following the previous year’s nomination for Incident, a New York Times short film made with footage from police body cameras and nearby buildings (also available for free on YouTube). Premiering to positive reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in the US, it has continued on the festival circuit before arriving on Netflix later in the year.
The Perfect Neighbour is a meticulous retelling of a criminal case which took plave in Florida, 2 or so years ago. Susan Lorincz was notorious on her street for berating kids for playing on the field near her house, an area that was not her property. The first half of the documentary is dedicated to showing these incidents, through detailing the extensive number times that she called the police to deal with the situation. This gives vital context for the events of the rest of the case, and gives the audience a very clear picture of who Susan is. However, beyond this it’s important to note that this is not a documentary that gives a clear stance. The footage is extensive, left virtually unedited, and the only defence for this case, Florida’s complex ‘Stand your ground’ laws, are not even mentioned until over two thirds of the way in to the documentaries one hour and forty minute run time. Where many other films documenting a crime in this manner fall into a kind of micro examination of the particular politics and events that lead to the crime, as well as the nuances of the law when presenting the case, The Perfect Neighbour subverts this completely, going so far as to present a summarised version of the legal proceedings as the credits roll.
The decision to focus on the crime, rather than the investigation, subsuqent punishment and psyche of the criminal, is oddly enough a bold choice for a true crime documentary. It will be very interesting to see how it plays out amongst mainstream audiences later in the year. This leads to my only qualm with it leaving the cinema. It could honestly be completely off base given the ‘footage speaks for itself’ angle, but as a non-American viewer, it would’ve been nice to have some of the law pertaining to the case explained. I didn’t know what ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws are, how it’s different in Florida compared to the rest of the States, and I’m also left wondering it was so easy for Susan to secure that gun, and never have her ownership of it remotely questioned. At the end of the day, Susan was found guilty, but I believe there is more room for the audience to be able to identify active injustice, as any documentary, made easier by understanding what needed to change to prevent this tragedy. Particularly in Netflix’s world, it’s a delicate balancing act to manage making an impactful documentary, while avoiding nihilism, and also of course, not boring the viewer completely. The Perfect Neighbour is unfortunately restricted, as a documentary, it is subject how it performs on Netflix, as to if it can have long term impact.
Like any documentary, it needs to be experienced to be understood, you can’t truly just read about the case and call it a day, especially when you have something this comprehensive and meticulously produced. It is also another product of progression in the world, in it’s entirely new exploration of documentary-making technique, and it’s certainly worth considering the impact a new genre of film made using body cam footage could have in the future.