Netflix’s ‘The Perfect Neighbor’ Sparks Gut-Wrenching Reactions Over Its Disturbing True Story

Netflix’s latest hit, The Perfect Neighbor, is an impactful film, and audiences can’t stop talking about it. The true-crime documentary, directed by Geeta Gandbhir, dives into the slaying of Ajike “AJ” Owens, a mother of four whose passing shocked a Florida community and ignited widespread conversations about race, fear, and justice.

The film, which premiered at Sundance 2025 before hitting Netflix on October 17, has achieved a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, but its impact can’t be measured by numbers alone. Viewers have described the film as an experience that is gut-wrenching and impossible to forget.

The Perfect Neighbor exposed the tragedy behind Ajike Owens’ slaying

Woman with glasses and purple shawl in courtroom setting, related to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor disturbing true story.

Image credits: Netflix/Tudum

The Perfect Neighbor tells the story of Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old Black mother from Ocala, Florida, who was fatally s**t through her neighbor’s door in June 2023. 

She was s**t by Susan Lorincz, a 58-year-old woman known for repeatedly calling the police on local children, including Owens’ own.

Smiling woman with long straight hair in a black top, with a mirror reflecting a child sitting on a bed behind her.

Image credits: Ajike Shantrell Owens/Facebook

Lorincz wasn’t arrested immediately. Under Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, Lorincz claimed she was defending herself, according to TV Insider. 

Five days later, authorities finally charged her with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of a**ault. She was convicted of manslaughter in 2024 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Woman standing at night outside a home in a dimly lit yard, scene related to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story.

Image credits: Netflix/Tudum

Judge Robert Hodges later said the shooting was “completely unnecessary,” emphasizing that Lorincz was safe behind a locked door when she chose to fire on AJ. 

“She could have stayed in the room,” he said. “But she came back out, put herself in front of the door, and at the time she fired the gun through the door, she was safe.”

Two distressed women in a close embrace, reflecting the gut-wrenching emotions of Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story.

Image credits: Netflix/Tudum

Today, Lorincz is serving her sentence at Homestead Correctional Institution, still insisting she felt “terrified” by Owens and her children prior to the tragic incident. 

In a 2025 interview, she said, “It just makes me sick. I just never, ever thought in a million years this would happen and it just … it breaks my heart. I can’t take it back. I can’t replace her.”

A police officer talking to a woman outside a house, related to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor disturbing true story.

Image credits: Netflix

The harrowing film explored the aftermath of the slaying and the real people left behind

In The Perfect Neighbor, real body camera footage reveals how one woman made sinister use of 911 calls to target a community. pic.twitter.com/o4jNEGGd5e

— Netflix (@netflix) October 22, 2025

Geeta Gandbhir, the director of The Perfect Neighbor, told The Washington Post that she received a thumb drive about the case from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in August 2023. 

The thumb drive had over 30 hours of police bodycam and dashcam footage. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this footage goes back two years,’” the director said.

Tweet by Mightykeef expressing strong emotional reactions to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story content.

Image credits: MightyKeef

Some of the footage was very difficult to watch. Viewers highlighted the moment Owens’s children were told their mother wasn’t coming home, and the raw grief that followed. 

One scene showed Owens’s mother screaming “Why?” through the phone when she learned her daughter had passed away.

Tweet on Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor sparking gut-wrenching reactions over the disturbing true story.

Image credits: VSammy3_

On social media, the reactions were immediate and emotional, according to PureWow Entertainment. “Watching The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix crying my eyes out,” one user wrote. “This broke me,” another commented, saying that the film was “tremendous… but not one I wish to ever revisit.”

Some praised Gandbhir for handling the story with care and integrity. Others felt conflicted, arguing that certain scenes bordered on “Black trauma p**n.” 

Mugshot of a middle-aged woman with glasses and curly hair related to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story.

Image credits: Florida Dept of Corrections

Gandbhir and her team wrestled with that same ethical question while editing the film, but according to the director, Owens’s mother wanted her daughter’s story to be told, even if it was difficult to watch.

“The world needs to know what happened to my baby,” Owens’s mom told Gandbhir.

Three smiling children in school uniforms standing outside on a driveway, related to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story.

Image credits: Ajike Shantrell Owens/Facebook

Netizens cannot get the harrowing scenes of The Perfect Neighbor out of their minds

Twitter post praising Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor, highlighting its respectful storytelling and disturbing true story impact.

Image credits: anovelwoman

Gandbhir noted that she and her co-director, Nikon Kwantu, made the film not just to recount events, but to expose the systemic failures that allowed them to happen.

“There might be a bigger story,” Kwantu told her, and there was.

Tweet from user Erika praising Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor documentary as an incredible and important watch.

Image credits: erikaxtc

The footage on the thumb drive revealed a pattern of 911 calls, escalating harassment, and the quiet terror that led up to Owens’s final moments.

Many viewers have taken to social media to share their outrage, heartbreak, and disbelief.

Woman in a yellow prison uniform sitting in a courtroom, related to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor disturbing true story.

Image credits: Law&Crime Trials

“I think The Perfect Neighbor did a great job of shining a harsh light on a system where some people walk in with the benefit of the doubt, while others carry the weight of suspicion simply because their skin color walks in first,” one viewer stated on X.

Another wrote, “I haven’t felt such visceral and intensely gendered loathing for a documentary termagant since Dear Zachary,” one reviewer noted.

“As gripping as it is deeply unsettling, The Perfect Neighbor lays bare the systemic failures and the quiet terror embedded in American legal systems with surgical precision,” another stated.

Netizens shared their thoughts on The Perfect Neighbor on social media

Tweet from user Ray expressing frustration about police intervention in a disturbing true story related to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor.

Image credits: RayLincoln82

Twitter user Always Smiling reacts emotionally to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor based on a disturbing true story.

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Social media reaction expressing horror over Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor and its disturbing true story.

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Tweet from user Craft_monsta reacting to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor, expressing disbelief at people’s actions nowadays.

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Screenshot of a tweet reacting to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor, highlighting strong emotions over its disturbing true story.

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Tweet from user gemini expressing emotional impact of Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story, posted on October 22, 2025.

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Screenshot of a Twitter post showing emotional reactions to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor disturbing true story documentary.

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User tweet reacting to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story, expressing sympathy for the affected family.

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Tweet by Deborah Gaye sharing gut-wrenching reactions to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor true story.

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Screenshot of a tweet praising Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor for its tragic story told through police body camera footage.

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Tweet with a user reflecting on disturbing true story reactions from Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor and personal experiences in Alabama.

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Tweet reading watched it twice and cried like crazy both times with hope her family heals, reflecting Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor reactions.

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Twitter user expressing emotional reaction to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor based on its disturbing true story.

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Tweet expressing a gut-wrenching reaction to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor and its disturbing true story.

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Screenshot of a Twitter post reacting emotionally to Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor, highlighting its disturbing true story.

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Tweet expressing emotional reaction with tears streaming down face over Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor disturbing true story.

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