THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR – Review by Lynn Venhaus
Using bodycam footage from many police visits, the true-crime documentary The Perfect Neighbor unfolds like a suspense thriller in a chilling, eerie spotlight on a suburban neighborhood feud that escalated into fear, anger, paranoia and ultimately, tragedy.
In countless suburban enclaves across this country, kids are playing outside – and occasionally, annoying an older neighbor. Back in my day, a cranky guy’s phrase “Get off my lawn!” was used to typify these curmudgeons that you tried to steer clear of, even when trick-or-treating.
But in this patch of Ocala, Florida, it’s more sinister. An angry 58-year-old woman, Susan Lorincz, called the police often on a trespassing claim, exaggerating how the kids were bothering her. She rented a home there in 2021.
In particular, the four children of single mother Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, who lived across the street and often played in a nearby field, received her ire. The harassment seemed to be constant. The kids who gathered for kickball and such, both black and white, called her “Karen.”
The hostilities began being documented in February 2022, when she claimed Owens threw a sign at her. Lorincz tried to manipulate the police in her favor, and that’s an eye-opener to hear throughout, what she tells them versus what’s the truth.
With meticulous detail, director Geeta Gandbhir reconstructs this case from the first 911 call through that fateful night with the official footage from first responders. This strengthens the case and creates an overwhelming feeling of tension and loss.
On the evening of June 2, 2023, after Owens knocked on Lorincz’ door, furious over an altercation with her 10-year-old son, the white woman fatally shot her through a door. Lorincz claimed self-defense.
After the sheriff said no arrests would be made until they evaluated the case for Stand Your Ground laws, this re-ignited a debate about its validity because of its ‘shoot first, think later’ myopia. The 2012 Trayvon Martin case and the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl in Kansas City come to mind as well.
That led to an outcry, and on June 7, after interviews, digital evidence and surveillance footage were examined, Lorincz was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault.
In a press conference, Sheriff Billy Woods said the stand your ground law did not apply because: “This situation is a prime example of when it was not justified. It was simply a killing.”
Although people can draw their own conclusions, Lorincz’s self-defense stance was punctured by the police officers investigating the case. After a trial in August 2024, she was convicted of manslaughter by a six-member all-white jury and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
That is what method filmmakers behind Incident, the 2023 Oscar-nominated short documentary used, featuring security camera footage of a 2018 fatal police shooting in southside Chicago to show what really happened as opposed to inconsistent police reports and witness accounts.
Only this time, the police came across as good guys because they were empathetic to the kids’ plight. And after a few calls, it was obvious — they surmised what was happening.
In addition to the bodycam footage, the film used news coverage, the courtroom verdict, and the aftermath to tell a complete story in 1 hour, 36 minutes, with astute editing by Viridiana Lieberman
Gandbhir, who won the directing award for documentaries at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has received two Emmy Awards for her editing work on the documentaries When the Levee Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts in 2007 and By the People: The Election of Barack Obama in 2010.
Through her efforts here, she takes a microcosm of what is happening across the country to enlarge the specifics for a broader snapshot of the racial divides and gun violence that make headlines today.
This time, the Stand Your Ground law did not let a killer off. You won’t soon forget this raw, harrowing account of one woman’s vendetta against kids being kids, and the bigger law-and-order issues in the U.S. that it represents.
The film opens in theatres Oct. 10 and will stream on Netflix beginning Oct. 17.
