Filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir, with the support of producer-husband Nikon Kwantu and executive producer Soledad O’Brien, has produced The Perfect Neighbor. It is on Netflix after an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run and a Best Director award at Sundance.
It chronicles the two years leading up to the death of Ajike “AJ” Owens. She was a dedicated 35-year-old mother of four when she was shot and killed by her 58-year-old neighbor, Susan Lorincz, in June 2023.
The tragedy shocked the peaceful, tight-knit community of Ocala, Florida. The shooting occurred after years of Lorincz making habitual calls to the police to report neighborhood kids, including Owens’, for playing in a vacant lot next to her home.
Lorincz, who is white, claimed that the children — most of whom are Black and were under 12 — were a threat, citing one of the nation’s many “Stand Your Ground” laws, which allow individuals to use deadly force to protect themselves if they feel their life is in danger.
What makes the film unusual is that it is almost entirely composed of police body camera footage. This cinema verité documentary uses this case to depict the dangers inherent in such a law.
