The Perfect Neighbor Review: Examining a Infamous Incident Through the Lens of a State Officer's Body-Cam
The real-life crime category has an innovative format, or perhaps even a whole new language and grammar: officer-worn camera recordings. Countenances of those harmed, observers and potential offenders appear suddenly to the cameras, at times in the harsh glare of vehicle beams or torches as the police arrive, their faces and voices eloquent of caution or panic or anger or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we frequently incidentally glimpse the expressions of the officers themselves, one standing by blankly while the other conducts the inquiry with what sometimes seems like remarkable hesitation – though maybe this is because they are aware they are being recorded.
An Emerging Pattern in Non-Fiction Cinema
We have previously seen the Netflix real-life crime film The Gabby Petito Case, about the slaying of an Instagram influencer by her partner, whose primary focus was body cam footage and in which, as in this film, the police seemed surprisingly lenient with the perpetrator. There is also Bill Morrison’s Oscar-nominated short Incident, composed entirely of body cam film. Now comes a new film by Geeta Gandbhir about the grim case of Ajike Owens in Ocala, Florida, a African American woman whose children reportedly bothered and tormented her neighbor, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighbour-dispute incidents in which the authorities were summoned multiple times, Lorincz shot Owens dead through her closed front door, when the victim went to Lorincz’s house to address her about hurling items at her children.
The Investigation and State Laws
The arresting officers found proof that Lorincz had done internet searches into the state's self-defense statutes, which allow residents and others to use firearms if there is a significant presumption of danger. The documentary builds its story with the officer recordings captured during the repeated police visits to the location before the killing, and then at the disturbing and disordered incident site itself – prefaced by 911 audio material of Lorincz contacting authorities in a dramatically trembling voice. There is also jail video of Lorincz which has a chilly, queasy fascination.
Portrayal of the Accused
The documentary does not really imply anything too complex about the neighbor, or any mitigating factors. She is obviously disturbed, although the children are heard calling her a derogatory term, an ugly jibe. The film is presented as an example of how “stand your ground” laws lead to senseless and tragic violence. But the reality of firearm possession and the second amendment (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a late commentator famously claimed made gun deaths a price worth paying) is not much emphasized.
Officer Questioning and Gun Culture
It is possible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel surprised at how minimal concern the officers took in this point. When did she buy her gun? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? How was the gun kept in her home? Could it have been easily accessible and prepared? The authorities aren’t shown asking any of these undoubtedly important questions (though they could have inquired in recordings that were not included). Or is possessing a firearm so normal it would be like asking about microwaves or bread heaters?
Detention and Consequences
For what seemed to her local residents a very long time, the suspect was not even taken into custody and indicted, only detained and even provided accommodation away from home for the night (another point of comparison, by the way, with the Gabby Petito case). And when she was finally officially taken into custody in the holding cell, there is an remarkable scene in which the individual simply declines to rise, refuses to put her wrists out for the handcuffs, not aggressively, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose psychological state means that she just can’t do it. Had the kid-gloves treatment up until that point led her to think that this might actually work?
Final Outcome and Judgment
It was not successful; and the jury’s verdict is revealed in the closing credits. A very sombre picture of U.S. justice and consequences.
