With nothing but innocuous footage — most of it shot in bright afternoon light on a pleasant street — the documentary “The Perfect Neighbor” creates a feeling akin to being dragged bodily into a nightmare. The tension creeps as a hopeless situation is pulled inexorably toward tragedy.

What it shows is a vital portrait of violence and justice in contemporary America. With the story of one neighborhood, it teaches an uncomfortable yet vital lesson about who we are.

Told almost entirely through real-time footage by documentarian Geeta Gandbhir, “The Perfect Neighbor” observes Susan Lorincz terrorize her community under the guise of deeply felt fear. Lorincz has a tendency to call the police whenever children play near her house, claiming she feels threatened; provoking children and adults a

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