The Perfect Neighbor
★★★★
The Perfect Neighbor is one of those documentaries that sneaks up on you. It starts out simple enough: a neighborhood dispute in Florida between one woman and her neighbors. But what unfolds feels both horrifyingly unique and disturbingly familiar.
The story is told almost entirely through body cam footage and sheriff’s department recordings. There are no talking-head interviews or guiding narration, just raw, unfiltered moments as they happened. At first, I wasn’t sure how that approach would hold up for a feature-length film, but it quickly becomes gripping. Watching events unfold in real time forces you to make your own judgments, to feel like you’re part of the case before the verdict ever comes.
What begins as a string of petty neighborhood complaints escalates into tragedy when one woman, claiming self-defense under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, fatally shoots her neighbor, Ajike “AJ” Owens—a mother of four. The film doesn’t need to spell out the injustice; it lets the footage speak for itself, which makes it even more devastating.
As the footage continues, it’s clear that the shooter is deeply unstable, both in her behavior and in how law enforcement responds over time. The film quietly raises questions about how this situation could have been prevented and what it reveals about America’s obsession with property, fear and firearms.
More than anything, The Perfect Neighbour is a sobering reminder of how fragile community can be. It highlights the dangers of Stand Your Ground culture, the racial double standards embedded in the justice system and how quickly communication can collapse into tragedy.
There’s a moment near the end that’s absolutely gut-wrenching and will sit with you long after the credits roll. You can’t help but think about how easily something like this could happen anywhere, and how laws meant to “protect” can end up destroying lives.
It’s not an easy watch, but it’s an important one.
