Female Film Critics 24/375
The documentary The Perfect Neighbor is propulsive with frustration and dread, depicting a clash between neighbors that led to the fatal 2023 shooting of a mother of four. While its device of relying heavily on law enforcement body camera footage is gripping, it leaves a limited understanding of the slain woman, the neighbor who killed her, and the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
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This year, the 63rd annual New York Film Festival boasted an impressive roster of women-produced and women-prominent features, spanning across a variety of different genres. In general, this year’s more anticipated, big-ticket films turned out to be less remarkable than some of the quieter releases, as we’ll address in this roundup. The festival opener, for example, Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, while an apt showcase for Julia Roberts, was a coolly received treatise on cancel culture told from within the confines of the ivory tower of academia. Other films in the Main Slate, like Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, while more understated features, received greater praise from audiences and critics alike.
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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.
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