The three best documentaries I’ve seen this year: Albert Serra’s “Afternoons of Solitude,” Laura Poitras’ “Cover-Up,” and Geeta Gandbhir’s “The Perfect Neighbor,” which now has a trailer.
Netflix acquired Gandbhir’s documentary out of Sundance for $5M. It was one of the biggest deals of the festival, and for good reason. “The Perfect Neighbor” recounts the June 2023 killing of Ajike Owens in Marion County, Florida. It’s incendiary, formally inventive you-are-there non-fiction.
Shot entirely from police bodycam footage, and edited to perfection, follows a petty disagreement between neighbors in Florida that takes a lethal turn. Gandbhir’s film starts with the murder and goes back in time for us to experience the events that led to the tragedy.
This is not just a formally inventive film, utilizing two-person police POVs for shot-reverse shot, but also an intellectual exercise of modern-day America. Despite its topical nature, the film has total restraint, opting for a show and don’t tell motif to its narrative.
Gandbhir, very wisely, doesn’t turn the film into a civics lesson, refusing to provide us with any easy answers. The moral quandary at the center of the film resides in the inability, of some individuals, to decipher between fear and danger.
You’re going to be getting a lot of people talking about this film, which will screen at the New York Film Festival next week. Expect it to be in the Oscar conversation for Best Documentary. There’s no way to avoid how jaw-dropping some of the moments in this film are.
Netflix releases “The Perfect Neighbor” on October 17, following a limited theatrical run beginning October 10.