The Perfect Neighbor 2025

The Perfect Neighbor is a 2025 American documentary film directed by Geeta Gandbhir about a shooting incident on June 2, 2023 where a white woman, Susan Louise Lorincz, fatally shot Ajike Owens, her black neighbor, in Ocala, Florida. The film is told in chronological order with limited narration and mostly using pre-existing police footage such as bodycams, and follows both the lead-up to the killing, the incident itself and its aftermath, from the neighborhood disputes eventually escalating into the killing to Lorincz's conviction for manslaughter, among other charges. As the killing itself did, the film notably questions the systemic bias in how Florida's stand-your-ground laws are applied. The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, where it won the Directing Award. It had a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on October 10, prior to streaming globally on Netflix on October 17. It received widespread acclaim for its production, direction and editing, and its effective questioning of the circumstances surrounding Owens' death and similar incidents. At the 98th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Documentary.