The Perfect Neighbor feels unusually immediate because it isn’t built like a typical Netflix documentary. Instead of relying on talking-head interviews or dramatic reenactments, it pieces together what was captured in real time—primarily body-worn camera video and related recordings—to reconstruct events in a Florida neighborhood with as little “filter” as possible.
Where was The Perfect Neighbor filmed
Netflix’s documentary The Perfect Neighbor is set in Ocala, Florida, specifically in Quail Run, a small residential neighbourhood in Marion County.
Why “filming” is a special case for this documentary
Unlike most documentaries, The Perfect Neighbor isn’t built around sit-down interviews or recreated scenes. Netflix Tudum notes that it was “filmed — or rather, footage edited together — in Ocala, Florida,” because the story is constructed primarily from existing recordings captured during real events.
What the documentary footage is made from
Entertainment Weekly reports the film is composed almost entirely of:
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law-enforcement body-worn camera video
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emergency call audio
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cellphone video
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security camera recordings
This approach is intentional: the director, Geeta Gandbhir, has said the goal was to let viewers feel “embedded within the community,” without layering on heavy narration.
How the production obtained the bodycam material
A major part of the documentary’s foundation came through public-records access. Entertainment Weekly (citing The Guardian) explains that key video and audio materials were obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests.
The Guardian also describes how the victim’s mother and her legal team pursued the release of case materials, which then enabled the filmmakers to build a chronological account from what was captured by official systems.
How the footage was compiled into a coherent timeline
Getting the raw materials is only half the job—the hard part is turning scattered recordings into a readable story.
Entertainment Weekly details the practical editing challenge: the footage arrived in a “jumble,” and the team had to sync hours of bodycam video, match the right audio to the right officer, and align that with emergency calls and additional recordings.
The article describes this as a “complete puzzle,” especially because multiple responders may be on-scene at once.
Netflix Tudum’s editor feature reinforces that the film’s structure is a deliberate craft choice—shaping a form-forward documentary from raw institutional video rather than traditional documentary tools.
What was newly filmed for the documentary
Although most of the film relies on existing recordings, The Guardian reports that Gandbhir and her team also filmed parts of the community response (such as gatherings and vigils) earlier in the process, before the bulk of official materials were in hand.
The bottom line
The Perfect Neighbor was “filmed” in Ocala, Florida (Quail Run / Marion County), but the documentary’s real signature is how it was assembled: largely from body-worn camera video and related real-world recordings, acquired through public-records channels and then meticulously synchronized and edited into a chronological narrative.
