The Perfect Neighbor Documentary Reveals True Story of Ajike Owens Killing - Netflix Tudum

  • Deep Dive

    The Perfect Neighbor Uses Revolutionary Camerawork to Expose a Chilling Crime

    The Sundance-winning doc honors Ajike Owens, and reveals the consequences of “stand your ground” laws.

    By Troy Pozirekides
    Jan. 22, 2026

In her latest documentary film, Emmy Award–winning director Geeta Gandbhir (Katrina: Come Hell and High Water) confronts viewers with the stark realities of “stand your ground” laws. Now streaming on Netflix, The Perfect Neighbor explores a tight-knit community experiencing relentless harassment by a neighbor whose hostility escalates into a fatal crime. Using police bodycam footage to reveal in-the-moment conversations between law enforcement and neighbors, the film illustrates the impact of these controversial yet widely common laws. 

Find your Next True Crime Watch
Discover Now

The Perfect Neighbor is a deeply personal project, created to transform grief into purpose and honor the lasting legacy of Ajike Owens and her family,” Gandbhir said. “My team at Message Pictures, along with our incredible partners at SO’B Productions and Park Pictures, are thrilled the film will be available on Netflix, offering audiences worldwide the chance to experience this urgent and powerful story.”

Body cam footage of flashlight on a door

The Perfect Neighbor made its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary. It has screened at the SXSW Film Festival, CPH:DOX, the Miami Film Festival, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, where it received a Special Jury Award, and at Sheffield DocFest. It will screen at the New York Film Festival this fall.

The film is produced by Alisa Payne, Gandbhir, and Nikon Kwantu for Message Pictures, alongside Sam Bisbee for Park Pictures. Executive producers include Sam Pollard for Message Pictures, Soledad O’Brien and Rose Arce for SO’B Productions, Jackie Kelman Bisbee and Wendy Neu for Park Pictures, and Takema Robinson. 

What is the release date?

The Perfect Neighbor premiered on Netflix on Oct. 17. Stream it now

Where can I watch the trailer?

For a first look at The Perfect Neighbor, check out the trailer at the top of the page. 

How does The Perfect Neighbor end?

For more on the film’s gripping conclusion head over to our deep dive featuring the perspectives of Gandbhir and the filmmaking team. 

Has The Perfect Neighbor been nominated for or won any awards?

Yes! On Jan. 22, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature Film. Additionally, the documentary has been recognized with a Producers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Documentary and a Film Independent Spirit Award notice for Best Documentary Feature. 

In addition to winning the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the film won five awards at the 10th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best Archival Documentary, Best True Crime Documentary, and Best Editing, as well as a Best Editing nomination at the Critics Choice Movie Awards. The Perfect Neighbor has also earned a nomination for Best Documentary Film at the upcoming Gotham Independent Film Awards. 

Gandbhir’s film was one of the documentaries honored at the Albie Awards, which recognizes documentary filmmakers whose work pushes nonfiction storytelling forward in the name of social justice.

The Perfect Neighbor is now streaming.

The Perfect Neighbor poster art

What’s this doc like? 

Told primarily through police bodycam footage and recordings, The Perfect Neighbor’s captivating and intense real-time investigation of a fatal neighborhood dispute delves into issues of race, prejudice, policing, and gun ownership in America. 

  • Watch out for sensitive topics like discussions of racial slurs and body-cam footage capturing the immediate response to and aftermath of a fatal shooting.
  • Could be described as 137 Shots investigation of racially charged violence meets the immersive archival footage intensity of Making a Murderer.

Related Tags

All About The Perfect Neighbor

  • Geeta Gandbhir Crafts Oscar-Nominated Call for Justice in The Perfect Neighbor
    The filmmaker reflects on the journey of sharing her urgent documentary.
  • The editor discusses the documentary’s form-pushing challenge.
  • Geeta Gandbhir chronicles tragedy through body cam footage in the documentary. 
  • Honoring The Perfect Neighbor, a look at gun violence in a Florida community.

Shop The Perfect Neighbor

Go to Netflix Shop

Based on What You’ve Watched

  • Take a walk(er) down memory lane and relive these unforgettable moments.
  • A doctor has an affair with his son’s girlfriend in this sexy British series.
  • Tobias Santelmann and Joel Kinnaman star in the Nordic noir series.
  • Skyscraper Live thrills, and Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is a riveting survival tale.
  • Here’s everything to know about the action film from Gareth Evans. 
  • A doctor has an affair with his son’s girlfriend in this hot and heavy British series.
  • Tobias Santelmann and Joel Kinnaman star in the twisty noir thriller.
  • Viewers also pressed play on Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials and His & Hers.

Discover More Deep Dive

  • Get ready to get real with the social media phenom and her family.
  • Jacob Tremblay, Russell Crowe, and Shailene Woodley star in Janus Metz’s film.
  • A killer with a refined palette meets a criminal profiler in this drama.
  • Revisit the series’ trysts, treasures, and tragedies before it returns Aug. 20.
  • Hear from the lead actors about their characters’ fates.
  • New series Instadocs answers the burning questions on everyone’s minds.
  • Netflix’s most notorious bachelor is getting serious about finding love. 

Discover More Documentary

  • Avedon revisits the photographer’s storied career with access to his archive.  
  • Delve into stories about unforgettable victims, mysteries, and twisted minds.
  • The series from Skye Borgman and Joe Berlinger peels back the 2022 case.
  • Plus: Ransom Canyon makes a strong debut, and I Will Find You hits a milestone.
  • The Prediction Games probes if reality itself has become ripe for manipulation.
  • The debut focuses on Alex Murdaugh’s overturned murder conviction.
  • Stream Spider-Man, Ex Machina, Home Improvement, and more before the month ends.

Latest News

  • Suit Up and Save the Day with These 14 Superhero Series and Movies
    A person in a red and blue superhero costume crouches inside a large concrete pipe, holding a device and wearing a beige backpack in an urban, industrial setting.

Popular Now

  • The drama splashes to Netflix on Oct. 8. 
  • The series returns with Josh Duhamel, Minka Kelly, and legend Patricia Clarkson.