The Perfect Neighbor - NETFLIX (Documentary)

A doc told through Police Bodycam Footage Breathes New Life into the Genre

I used to love true crime documentaries - but in recent years its been overkill. It feels like they’ve run out of serial killers to focus on, so they keep returning to the same old classics. They just put out a doc about the BTK killer from the point of view of his daughter. Rumours are next year they’ll be releasing a documentary from the POV of his cousins.

In recent times - instead of the typical crime documentaries I’ve been more inclined to watch police bodycam videos on YouTube. Channels like Code Blue Cam release mostly unedited videos of traffic stops, arrests etc, filmed from the body cams of police officers.

When Netflix first started pumping out the crime docs, it seemed revolutionary. Everyone was gripped by ‘Making of a Murderer’ and ‘Tiger King’.

But then came all the bad documentaries, like ‘The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel’. Four episodes of talking to detectives and random web sleuth crazies --- a four episode arc made up entirely of filler episodes. At the very end, we find out the girl wasn’t murdered, she just accidentally drowned in the Water Tank.

I sympathise with the girl who drowned but, despite the loss, it didn’t need to be a documentary.

And that’s what we’ve all learned in recent years. Most of this crimes don’t need a six part series, you can have more fun just reading the Wikipedia page.

I love documentaries but I love them when they actually go after something. Like Michael Moore banging on doors, or the original ‘Catfish’ documentary when they were obsessed with finding the truth. Or ‘Icarus’, when they uncovered how cyclists were doping in real time.

Or, if you’re going to make a crime doc, give us CCTV footage. Give us the suspect interviews. Don’t put a retired Sheriff in an artsy looking diner and make him reconstruct everything that happened 32 years ago while simultaneously having shots of him driving around the neighbourhood looking pensive. That’s not a documentary, it’s just a waste of time.

‘The Perfect Neighbour’ is fascinating because it’s made up almost entirely from police bodycam footage. This film barely needs a director, it just needs a good editor. The footage is so fascinating! You can just let the story tell the story!

The documentary tells the story of a woman, Susan Lorincz, who seemingly woke up one morning when she was in her 60’s and decided to begin a vendetta against her neighbours; calling the police on them every five minutes, complaining that the kids were being nuisances and threatening her.

Time and again, the police turn up, find that nothing criminal is happening, and leave.

There’s also a brief scene somewhere else in town where Lorincz drives through a locked gate for no reason and the police question her about the incident.

Then some bigger things happen but I can’t tell you them all because I’d rather you to watch the thing.

But things escalate, and it all plays out on police bodycams.

After the main incident, there’s a lot of unrest in the neighborhood; and for a while, you figure there’s not going to be justice. And you sense the documentary’s angle/viewpoint on race, on policing, on gun control.

And while it does have a point of view, it doesn’t overcook it. It primarily lets the incident and the police/courts do the talking. It’s fascinating.

There’ll be other documentaries like this. Seeing real people, in real moments, filmed on a crappy bodycam is far more interesting that a polished piece with tons of interviews and analysis.

At times you feel like you’re seeing far too much. The film reels you in at first because it seems almost comical.

But then tragedy happens and you watch a family get told they’ve lost someone and the camera is so close you literally feel like you’re a part of the family. I’d say it’s a breach of privacy but I assume the family gave permission.

There’s so much more I could say but if I do, then there’ll be no point in you watching it on Netflix.

If you like crime docs that get to the point and show you the important stuff as it happens, this is the film for you.

If you prefer films with reconstructions and multiple episodes and drag and delay tactics, then this one isn’t for you.

True Crime can be fascinating. I think ‘The Staircase’ is one of the best things ever made. But in recent years, the crime show formula has worn thin.

‘The Perfect Neighbour’ breathes new life into the genre.