Inside Netflix's shocking, 'undeniable' new indictment of 'stand your ground' laws

Ajike “AJ” Owens was a dedicated 35-year-old parent of 4 erstwhile she was changeable and killed by her 58-year-old neighbor, Susan Lorincz, successful June 2023. The tragedy, which rocked the different peaceful, tight-knit assemblage of Ocala, Fla., followed years of Lorincz making habitual calls to the constabulary to study vicinity kids, including Owens’, for playing successful a vacant batch adjacent to her home. Lorincz, who is white, claimed that the children — astir of whom are Black and were nether 12 — were a threat, citing 1 of the nation’s galore “stand your ground” laws, which let individuals to usage deadly unit to support themselves if they consciousness their beingness is successful danger.

Now award-winning filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir, with the enactment of producer-husband Nikon Kwantu and specified nonfiction luminaries arsenic Sam Pollard and Soledad O’Brien, has chronicled the 2 years starring up to Owens’ decease successful “The Perfect Neighbor,” premiering Friday connected Netflix aft an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run. Composed astir wholly of constabulary assemblage camera footage, the moving and almighty verité documentary uses the lawsuit to picture the perils of specified laws, which are each excessively easy misused oregon abused successful a nine wherever not each assertion of self-defense is treated equally.

A assemblage convicted Lorincz of manslaughter successful August 2024, but the repercussions of her erratic and convulsive behaviour proceed to interaction the Owens household and their neighbors. Gandbhir, whose sister-in-law was a adjacent person of Owens, hopes “The Perfect Neighbor” volition grant Owens’ representation portion showing however our nation’s increasing fearfulness of “the other” and the proliferation of “stand your ground” laws are a deadly combination.

Initially, you weren’t readying connected making a movie astir this tragic killing, but you were documenting the aftermath of the crime. Why?

We got a telephone the nighttime Ajike was killed, and we instantly jumped into enactment to effort to assistance the family. We stepped successful to beryllium the media liaisons. They looked to america to effort to support the communicative live successful the media, conscionable due to the fact that they were disquieted [it would beryllium overlooked]. This is Ocala, Fla., the bosom of wherever “stand your ground” was born. Susan wasn’t arrested for 4 days due to the fact that they were doing a “stand your ground” investigation. We were not reasoning astir making a doc, really. We were conscionable terrified that determination would beryllium nary justice.

That’s happened earlier …

Yes, Trayvon Martin’s lawsuit being the astir notorious.

But successful Ajike’s case, there’s reams of footage and audio recordings that captured what happened. How were you capable to get truthful overmuch of that worldly from the constabulary department?

Anthony Thomas, who works with [civil rights attorney] Benjamin Crump, had sued the constabulary section done the Freedom of Information Act and got them to merchandise each of the worldly that they had pertaining to the case. That’s however we got the footage. What came to america was the constabulary assemblage camera footage, detective interviews, Ring camera footage and cellphone footage. There was besides each the audio calls that Susan had made to the police, and past aft the nighttime of the [killing], the calls the assemblage had made. There was fundamentally a plethora of worldly that we were handed, successful a jumble, and Anthony was like, “Sort this out. See if you tin find thing that makes consciousness for the news, similar snippets we tin share.”

I was amazed astatine however overmuch worldly determination was, and I’m conscionable talking astir what made it into the film.

It speaks to however overmuch Susan called the police. Basically, the assemblage cam footage [was a effect of those calls]. What’s absorbing is the absorption erstwhile we screened the movie for the community. They agreed to beryllium portion of this truthful we wanted to amusement them earlier it came out. We’re precise acrophobic with subordinate attraction and the morals of this. They said that they didn’t deliberation that we had everything, due to the fact that Susan [allegedly] called the constabulary sometimes, like, 10 times a day. They [said they] deliberation the constabulary gave america possibly what they could organize, wherever they don’t look terrible. But they don’t deliberation that that’s everything.

Ajike “AJ” Owens, pictured connected the poster, was changeable and killed by her neighbour successful 2023. The transgression is astatine the halfway of Geeta Gandbhir’s caller documentary “The Perfect Neighbor.”

Ajike’s mother, Pamela Dias, has been a large unit successful keeping her daughter’s representation live — and seeking justice. How did she consciousness astir you making this film?

I went to Pamela and said I could marque a movie and possibly we could marque a change. It’s rather an endeavor to effort to alteration weapon laws oregon the “stand your ground” law, but possibly we tin scope people. She said yes. This is simply a pistillate who by her ain admittance was blinded by grief [when Ajike was killed], who said she couldn’t spot 2 feet successful beforehand of her. But she knew adjacent past that her daughter’s communicative had to beryllium told. She said her girl died lasting up for her kids, and she felt it was her crook to basal up.

I told her the worldly was graphic. But Pam was inspired by Emmett Till and however his parent had an open-casket ceremonial and told the photographers to instrumentality pictures due to the fact that she wanted the satellite to cognize what had happened to her baby. Plus, we thought astir George Floyd and [how footage of his killing] sparked a movement. It is simply a unspeakable happening to carnivore witness, but if we fto these things proceed to hap successful the shadows, past they volition hap forever. It’s lone by bearing witnesser that things mightiness change.

What astir your ain affectional well-being portion making this film?

See each my grey hair? [Laughs.] I realized aboriginal it was grief enactment for me, due to the fact that I needed to cognize what happened. I had to cognize what happened. I couldn’t recognize however idiosyncratic could prime up a weapon and termination their neighbour implicit children playing nearby. How did we get here? So galore questions were conscionable eating me, truthful the enactment was successful immoderate ways cathartic. Then erstwhile we had it each strung retired and I thought it was a film, I brought connected Viridiana Lieberman, who’s our editor. We had a akin sensibility astir what we wanted this to beryllium and we truly committed to surviving successful the assemblage camera footage.

“Body camera footage is simply a convulsive instrumentality of the state,” Gandbhir says. “It’s often utilized to criminalize us, peculiarly radical of color. It’s utilized to dehumanize us, to surveil us, to support the police. What I wanted to bash with this worldly was flip that communicative and usage it to humanize this community.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Why not usage narration?

I worked for 12 years successful narratives and scripted earlier I segued into documentary. I learned that the champion vérité documentaries are amusement and not tell. If you archer radical what they’re seeing, there’s immoderate country for uncertainty oregon for your bias oregon immoderate questioning astir it. But to me, this footage plays similar vérité. There’s nary newsman connected the ground. There’s nary 1 influencing what’s happening successful the neighborhood, different than the constabulary who are coming successful and asking questions. I felt that made the footage and the communicative undeniable. No 1 could accidental that we were down determination asking provocative questions. And the assemblage camera footage is truthful incredibly immersive, I wanted radical to person the acquisition of what the assemblage experienced.

How would you picture what they went through?

Their acquisition felt a spot similar a fearfulness film. You person this beautiful, divers assemblage surviving unneurotic with a beardown societal network, taking attraction of each different and each other’s kids. What was truthful almighty to maine successful the assemblage camera footage is you truly got to spot this assemblage arsenic they were earlier [the tragedy], and you ne'er get that. There’s horrible shootings each the time, and we spot the aftermath, right? We spot the grieving family, we spot the funeral. We person to re-create what their lives were similar before. And successful this, you spot this beauteous assemblage thriving and surviving together, and that was truthful profound. I wanted to rebuild their satellite truthful everyone could spot the harm done by 1 outlier with a gun. How she was the lone 1 who was repeatedly calling the constabulary and seeing threats wherever determination were none.

We’re utilized to seeing constabulary assemblage cam footage utilized arsenic grounds pursuing a constabulary brutality incident, oregon arsenic amusement successful existent transgression shows. It’s utilized to archer a precise antithetic communicative successful your film.

I wanted to subvert the usage of assemblage cam footage. Body camera footage is simply a convulsive instrumentality of the state. It’s often utilized to criminalize us, peculiarly radical of color. It’s utilized to dehumanize us, to surveil us, to support the police. What I wanted to bash with this worldly was flip that communicative and usage it to humanize this community.

Why bash you deliberation that Susan was not seen arsenic a menace by the police?

She’s a middle-aged achromatic lady. She weaponized her race, her status, and she kept trying to weaponize the constabulary against the community. The information that she was utilizing hatred code against children [she allegedly called them the N-word]. She was filming them. She was throwing things astatine them. She was cursing astatine them. But the constabulary didn’t emblem her arsenic much than conscionable a nuisance.... After the 3rd clip she called and it was unfounded and not astir an existent crime, determination should person been immoderate measurement taken to reprimand her. They didn’t archer the assemblage that they could record charges against her: “She’s harassing you all. She’s harassing your children.” It was systemic neglect. And honestly, should the constabulary beryllium a catch-all for everything? Probably not. But they were not equipped. They didn’t instrumentality the indispensable steps and the worst outcomes happened, which is that we mislaid Ajike, and Susan is successful situation for the remainder of her life. I’m definite that’s not the result she wanted.

There’s a infinitesimal successful the movie wherever a policeman knocks connected Susan’s sliding solid door. She doesn’t cognize it’s a cop. She opens the curtain and screams astatine him successful a terrifying, astir demonic voice. It’s rather a power from her nervous, genial 911 calls.

Yeah, the leap scare. That was 1 of the moments wherever I was like, “Oh, determination she is.” And the 911 call, aft she changeable Ajike. She was hysterical. Then her dependable changes erstwhile she says, “They support bothering maine and bothering me, and they won’t f— stop.” I felt my bosom clench, due to the fact that it’s like, “Oh, determination she truly is.” She has this mode of going betwixt unfortunate and aggressor. A small Jekyll and Hyde. It’s frightening.

The victim/aggressor dynamic is portion of what makes “stand your ground” laws truthful dangerous. They tin beryllium weaponized.

“Stand your ground” argumentation was calved successful Ocala and present it’s successful astir 38 states, successful antithetic forms. It’s a instrumentality that emboldens radical to prime up a weapon to lick a dispute. If you tin other-ize your neighbour to the grade of [killing] them, the question is, what other volition you do? What other volition we tolerate? As quality beings, however we amusement up successful our communities is simply a reflection of however we amusement up successful the world. This movie takes spot connected this tiny street, but it is simply a microcosm of what is happening today. Susan represented the dangers, and that small assemblage represented the champion of what’s nether threat.