The Perfect Neighbor
Netflix
Netflix is not exactly known for having a bunch of perfectly scored original movies, but it has now released one, topping even the 95% Rotten Tomatoes score of KPop Demon Hunters. It’s about a far, far more serious subject, however. It’s called The Perfect Neighbor.
The Perfect Neighbor.is not a blockbuster, but a crime documentary. The film has a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score from a surprising 67 critics, as many docuseries are ignored by critics entirely on Netflix. This one, however, was screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, so it’s a little different. And given how good it is, you might understand why Netflix took it there.
The Perfect Neighbor follows the story of the 2023 death of Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, who was shot and killed by Susan Lorincz in Ocala, Florida. The Perfect Neighbor was actually made by the best friend of Ajike Owens, Geeta Gandbhir, who was Owen’s sister-in-law.
The movie makes use of bodycam footage and deals with race and the controversial “stand your ground” laws in Florida. It’s been described as “a documentary horror film built with police footage.”
The Perfect Neighbor
Rotten Tomatoes
The Perfect Neighbor is currently the #2 film in Netflix’s top 10 list, behind only the blockbuster A House of Dynamite, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring A-listers from Rebecca Ferguson to Idris Elba. No perfect scores there, but it’s got a solid 79% critic score and 77% audience score. The Perfect Neighbor is ahead of KPop Demon Hunters, a film that has rarely left the top 3 since June 2025 and is Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time by a mile.
Here’s what some of the critics are saying about A Perfect Neighbor:
- The New Yorker: “I haven’t felt such visceral and intensely gendered loathing for a documentary termagant since “Dear Zachary.”
- RogerEbert.com: “This is a good film, but change would be a much greater achievement. How much longer must we studiously document senseless suffering?”
- Screen International: “Director Geeta Gandbhir uses this existing material to tell a tragic story that touches on America’s seemingly intractable struggles with racism, gun violence and mental health.”
The film is bound to be controversial; its audience score is already a lower 77%, far from perfect. But if this is being compared to Dear Zachary, one of the most haunting, compelling documentaries of all time, it is certainly worth a watch, no matter how hard it may be to get through, given its intensely emotional subject matter.
The Perfect Neighbor is streaming on Netflix now.
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