“This was personal, because she knew the people she did this too.”
Netflix documentary series ‘Worst Neighbor Ever’ will make viewers see the biblical commandment “love thy neighbour” in a whole new light. The show’s first case follows an unhinged, bitter woman who harmed the very family that had housed her for weeks while her own property was being renovated.
The title might lead some to expect petty neighborhood disputes in the range of noise complaints, harassment, bullying, or, at worst, scams. Instead, these are stories of genuine tragedy and horror. The series covers four true-crime stories where seemingly harmless next-door acquaintances terrorized their neighbors, and in one extreme case, an entire neighborhood bore the brunt of one particularly callous resident.
Created by the same team behind Netflix’s ‘Worst Ex Ever‘ and ‘Worst Roommate Ever’, the docu-series similarly relies on animated recreations to narrate its stories, alongside fresh interviews, archival footage, police bodycam videos, CCTV recordings, and other real-life media whenever available.
Two of the cases involve murder, while another centers on involuntary manslaughter. Like many true-crime stories, the documentary raises uncomfortable questions about whether earlier police intervention could have prevented at least two of these tragedies. But then unfortunately, it’s also difficult to fault law enforcement for not treating complaints about troublesome neighbors with the same urgency as reports of violent crime. Even people who had known the perpetrators for years never imagined things would take such a tragic turn.
What sticks out most in ‘Worst Neighbor Ever’ is how heavily it leans on the victims’ perspective. None of the featured perpetrators, or even their relatives, are interviewed, leaving every case to be told almost exclusively by those on the receiving end. Given that all of them were ultimately found guilty, I don’t think the series owes the convicted criminals a platform to justify their actions. And while some interviewees claim to have once been close friends with the perpetrators, the absence of any family voices leaves the stories feeling just a little incomplete.
The fourth episode feels like an odd fit for the series. It’s essentially an estate fraud and murder investigation with only a tenuous connection to the “worst neighbor ever” premise. Watching it gives off the impression that the producers were bending the theme to include another sensational true-crime story. Although the case seems tailor-made to become a Hollywood thriller.
That said, if you’ve enjoyed the previous Worst Ever documentaries, ‘Worst Neighbor Ever’ is an easy recommendation. The crimes themselves are more than disturbing enough to carry the series, but too often the filmmakers prioritize emotional impact over the kind of thorough, balanced storytelling these cases deserve.
Stream Worst Neighbor Ever on Netflix.
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