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Police body-cam footage is used to show how a neighborhood feud escalated into violence in the new trailer for The Perfect Neighbor, premiering exclusively on Rolling Stone.
Directed by Geeta Gandbhir, the film tells the story of a neighborhood dispute in Ocala, Florida, centered around a disgruntled resident named Susan Lorincz. As the new trailer shows, Gandbhir relied almost entirely on police body-cam footage to reconstruct the simmering conflict, showing how Lorincz butted heads with her neighbors as she repeatedly called local police to complain about children playing in the vacant lot next to her home.
The situation reached its deadly climax in June 2023, sparking a nationwide conversation about “stand your ground” laws.
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Gandbhir says that, while making The Perfect Neighbor, it was “heartbreaking to witness how one outlier in a caring, tight-knit community weaponized her race and privilege — repeatedly invoking law enforcement as a tool — to justify a violent act.”
The director continued: “What unfolded was not merely a tragic incident, but a chilling microcosm of a broader reality: a climate deliberately shaped by those in power, where policies rooted in manufactured fear are used to dehumanize, divide, and uphold systemic injustice. Creating this film became our way to honor Ajike Owens, seek justice for her loved ones, and shine a light on the devastating consequences of permissive gun laws and ‘stand your ground’ statutes.”
The Perfect Neighbor premiered earlier this year at Sundance, where it earned wide acclaim (and an honorable mention on Rolling Stone’s list of the 10 best films from this year’s festival). It’ll have a limited theatrical release on Oct. 10 before arriving on Netflix on Oct. 17.
