“The Perfect Neighbor” Takes a Novel Approach to Examining America’s Race and Gun Violence

By Jordan Crucchiola

One of the prevailing themes of this year’s Sundance Film Festival lineup is projects that demand change to some of the most far-reaching, deeply entrenched systems that define life in the U.S. One of those films is The Perfect Neighbor in the U.S. Documentary Competition, a film that spotlights this country’s unique problem with gun violence, and the deadly ramifications of an armed citizenry resorting to racist violence.   

“We’re really lucky to be able to play a film like this, that is shone with an unimaginable directness that I think is unforgettable,” says programmer Sudeep Sharma as he makes his introduction and welcomes director Geeta Gandbhir to the podium for the premiere. “I’m just so grateful to have you all here today,” Gandbhir tells the audience. “And I want to thank Sundance. For this film to be at Sundance is so meaningful, in this community which takes so much care and consideration with the films and the participants. It’s incredibly meaningful to us. I also want to thank my film team, and I want to thank the family of Ajike Owens for trusting us with this story.”

The Perfect Neighbor is a shockingly stark and immersive experience. The audience is dropped into the chaos of a police call and watches from the point of view of a cruiser dashboard racing toward a group of people panicking in the dark. It is June of 2023 and someone has been shot, lying wounded on the grass. Before we learn more about what happened at the crime scene, the film jumps back more than a year to February 2022. The Perfect Neighbor then plays out for most of its run time from the perspective of police bodycam footage, with Gandbhir guiding the viewer through an extensive incident timeline that begins with a woman named Susan Lorincz calling the cops on a neighbor, Owens, for “throwing” a small yard sign at her, and culminates in a fatal tragedy — with a family of young children losing their mother — almost a year and a half later.

The audience at Library Center Theater grows audibly emotional as the film goes on, and as they watch Lorincz, a white woman, grow more and more agitated with the Black family living across the street from her over the most minor offenses. Police are called to the neighborhood over and over again, and as they ask other residents questions about Lorincz’s behavior, viewers see a portrait emerge of a woman who can’t keep facts straight when talking to law enforcement and who purports to fear for her safety when it comes to Owens and her kids. But the only aggressor that we can see is Lorincz. 

As the film circles back to its catalyzing incident, you can almost feel the Park City audience willing the inevitable to be reversed. But it will not, and Owens will still die by the hand of Lorincz. Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, is present for the screening and addresses the room after. 

“Thank you first of all for everyone showing interest into this incredible story. As I watch this film alongside you all, it’s not an easy watch,” Dias says in a slow, measured cadence. “I see remnants of what used to be very happy children playing, and that was all taken away from them. I listened to your emotions and your reactions, similar to mine. This was a heartbreaking incident, one that should have never happened. My baby had dreams and aspirations, and that was all taken away from her.” 

When Gandbhir originally started working on The Perfect Neighbor, it was an effort to “make noise.” Lorincz had not yet been arrested for shooting Owens, and when the bodycam footage was first made available, the director and her team started reviewing it for evidentiary purposes. It was meant to be research to surface facts of the case, but as they watched more and more files, they realized the story was all there in front of them. 

“Oftentimes you see the aftermath of these stories, but you never see the before,” Gandbhir explains. “What we saw in this footage was this beautiful community that was super close-knit, that were living their lives intertwined and were caring for each other. And there was this dangerous threat looming. We wanted to show you all what this community was like before.” Journalist Soledad O’Brien believed in the story as well, so she came on board as a producer, and editor Viridiana Lieberman served as a vital pair of fresh eyes on material that Gandbhir had become incredibly close to. Together they decided to keep the focus of The Perfect Neighbor on the neighborhood itself, on a community that was ripped apart by gun violence and one woman’s irrational behavior.

“We do hope that films like this will make a difference,” says producer Alisa Payne. “That everyone will tell a friend to tell a friend so we can change this law.” When an audience member asks what can be done to help change “stand your ground” protections in Florida, activist and executive producer Takema Robinson responds, “We have no road forward until Ron DeSantis is no longer governor of Florida,” before reminding the room that this is a problem that extends across the U.S. “I just want to make this point as well that ‘stand your ground’ doesn’t just exist in Florida. It exists in 13 other states under other names. This isn’t just a Florida issue. It’s an America issue.”

In remembering her daughter, Dias shares that in one of their final conversations together, Owens said to her mom, “‘The world is gonna know my name.’ The world knows her name. It’s unfortunate that it’s under these circumstances, but as the world turns, her legacy lives on through this film, through her children, and the pursuit of justice so that we can make a change and a difference in this world, that other families like ours don’t have to go through this pain and suffering. Our lives will never be the same, but it’s the care, the concern, the interest that gives us the strength to forge forward, and I’m just grateful for that opportunity and this space to share our story with the world, with you.”