HBO’s Josh Safdie-Produced Docuseries ‘Neighbors’ Is Nextdoor Brought to Life by Way of ‘Uncut Gems’: TV Review
Every episode of the HBO docuseries “Neighbors” begins with the camera zooming in from outer space. But before the action alights in the location of the latest dispute between adjacent property owners to catch the eye of directors Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford (yes, grandson of Robert), the shot fills with the telltale red, white and blue of the American flag.
The reminder of where “Neighbors” takes place is almost redundant, even as it emphasizes a fundamental part of Fishman and Redford’s shared project. “Neighbors” unfolds across a broad swath of our great nation, from Manhattan apartment blocks to Montana ranches to San Diego suburbs. But there’s a fundamentally American sensibility that unites its subjects — all eccentric, stubborn individuals whose belief in property as a sacred right has led them into conflict with someone equally convinced of their own entitlement. No other nation on Earth, it’s implied, could produce such a smorgasbord of personalities, imbue them with a bedrock belief in homeownership as the endpoint of self-actualization and arm them with a litigious culture fueled by online exhibitionism. Over six episodes, that argument gets plenty of evidence. It isn’t always fun to watch, but “Neighbors” is never not compelling.
“Neighbors” is one of several HBO docuseries, including “Telemarketers” in 2023 and “Ren Faire” in 2024, to be executive produced by at least one Safdie brother. (Following the siblings’ creative separation, Josh Safdie produces “Neighbors” solo alongside frequent collaborators Ronald Bronstein and Eli Bush. “Neighbors” also has the imprimatur of uber-cool production company A24, which also backed Safdie’s Oscar-nominated feature film “Marty Supreme.”) The Safdies are known for casting nonprofessional actors in their scripted projects, and the uniting theme of these unscripted efforts are the kind of singular eccentrics one could see stealing a scene from a more established performer, like the perma-tanned Wayne Diamond opposite Adam Sandler in “Uncut Gems.”
But where “Ren Faire” or “Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God,” another HBO-Safdie collaboration, focused on one charismatic figure over several episodes, “Neighbors” packs multiple stories into each installment, apart from the finale. This makes casting director Harleigh Shaw every bit as crucial to “Neighbors” as Fishman and Redford. (Shaw worked with Benny Safdie on “The Smashing Machine” and with the Safdie stalwart Jennifer Venditti on Charli XCX’s mockumentary “The Moment.”) Shaw’s discoveries include a former stripper who performed under the name “The Italian Stallion” feuding with the proprietor of a “Vietnam memorial on wheels” over a lawn, a transgender ex-Orthodox Jew who takes issue with a proselytizer in her apartment building and a San Antonio woman who self-identifies as an “interstellar traveler” on a quest to construct a wall in her front yard. Each is a discovery in their own right, let alone in the aggregate.
Then again, many of these spats have been taken to the court of public opinion — as well as, frequently, actual court — via social media, where Fishman and Redford encountered the videos as early inspiration for the show. “Neighbors” incorporates on-the-ground interviews as well as embellishments like visual and auditory distortion, yet much of the material is supplied by the participants themselves through their Ring cameras, cell phones and laptops. The surveillance tech that pervades our lives is a constant presence in “Neighbors,” providing fuel for aggrievement and an outlet for the aggrieved. Of two Montana homesteaders at war over a gate installed on a private road, one is a nerd culture YouTuber who directs his fans’ ire toward the ever-present thorn in his side.The other is his foe’s most devoted comments section troll.
The fuzzy gray area at the intersection of the digital and the real is where “Neighbors” takes root; in one episode, a glitchy app directs droves of Florida beachgoers in search of public sand onto private property. Yet all these arguments originate with unmistakably human quirks and foibles, many of which defy easy judgments of right and wrong. The least satisfying tales involve a group of reasonable counterparties teaming up against a single aggressor, like an Indiana man who’s turned his grandmother’s house into an unauthorized urban farm. (Though Fishman and Redford do make a retired gay couple with an indoor hot tub that takes up most of their living room the face of the opposition. I’d love to hang out with them!) The most are those who have met their match and are too blinded by rage to see it. I laughed out loud when a woman’s adult son excused himself from her venting, explaining that “this is probably one of the dumbest arguments I’ve ever seen.” The only person who agrees on the importance of locating the property line happens to be his mother’s sworn enemy.
For the finale, though, Fishman and Redford break form. At first, a San Diego man squabbling with his neighbors over whether he should exercise near-nude in his driveway in full view of a church seems like standard fare for “Neighbors.” Then their subject starts to flirt with the idea of disengaging and moving to a like-minded nudist community, even relocating for a few days to test the new setup out. The saga has a more full and satisfying arc than other, more fragmentary ones while teasing out the series’ subtext: that this level of aggravation is, on some level, a choice. These “Neighbors” may point fingers at others , but the show also functions as a hard look in the mirror.
“Neighbors” will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Feb. 13 at 9 p.m. PT, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Fridays.
The reminder of where “Neighbors” takes place is almost redundant, even as it emphasizes a fundamental part of Fishman and Redford’s shared project. “Neighbors” unfolds across a broad swath of our great nation, from Manhattan apartment blocks to Montana ranches to San Diego suburbs. But there’s a fundamentally American sensibility that unites its subjects — all eccentric, stubborn individuals whose belief in property as a sacred right has led them into conflict with someone equally convinced of their own entitlement. No other nation on Earth, it’s implied, could produce such a smorgasbord of personalities, imbue them with a bedrock belief in homeownership as the endpoint of self-actualization and arm them with a litigious culture fueled by online exhibitionism. Over six episodes, that argument gets plenty of evidence. It isn’t always fun to watch, but “Neighbors” is never not compelling.
“Neighbors” is one of several HBO docuseries, including “Telemarketers” in 2023 and “Ren Faire” in 2024, to be executive produced by at least one Safdie brother. (Following the siblings’ creative separation, Josh Safdie produces “Neighbors” solo alongside frequent collaborators Ronald Bronstein and Eli Bush. “Neighbors” also has the imprimatur of uber-cool production company A24, which also backed Safdie’s Oscar-nominated feature film “Marty Supreme.”) The Safdies are known for casting nonprofessional actors in their scripted projects, and the uniting theme of these unscripted efforts are the kind of singular eccentrics one could see stealing a scene from a more established performer, like the perma-tanned Wayne Diamond opposite Adam Sandler in “Uncut Gems.”
But where “Ren Faire” or “Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God,” another HBO-Safdie collaboration, focused on one charismatic figure over several episodes, “Neighbors” packs multiple stories into each installment, apart from the finale. This makes casting director Harleigh Shaw every bit as crucial to “Neighbors” as Fishman and Redford. (Shaw worked with Benny Safdie on “The Smashing Machine” and with the Safdie stalwart Jennifer Venditti on Charli XCX’s mockumentary “The Moment.”) Shaw’s discoveries include a former stripper who performed under the name “The Italian Stallion” feuding with the proprietor of a “Vietnam memorial on wheels” over a lawn, a transgender ex-Orthodox Jew who takes issue with a proselytizer in her apartment building and a San Antonio woman who self-identifies as an “interstellar traveler” on a quest to construct a wall in her front yard. Each is a discovery in their own right, let alone in the aggregate.
Then again, many of these spats have been taken to the court of public opinion — as well as, frequently, actual court — via social media, where Fishman and Redford encountered the videos as early inspiration for the show. “Neighbors” incorporates on-the-ground interviews as well as embellishments like visual and auditory distortion, yet much of the material is supplied by the participants themselves through their Ring cameras, cell phones and laptops. The surveillance tech that pervades our lives is a constant presence in “Neighbors,” providing fuel for aggrievement and an outlet for the aggrieved. Of two Montana homesteaders at war over a gate installed on a private road, one is a nerd culture YouTuber who directs his fans’ ire toward the ever-present thorn in his side.The other is his foe’s most devoted comments section troll.
The fuzzy gray area at the intersection of the digital and the real is where “Neighbors” takes root; in one episode, a glitchy app directs droves of Florida beachgoers in search of public sand onto private property. Yet all these arguments originate with unmistakably human quirks and foibles, many of which defy easy judgments of right and wrong. The least satisfying tales involve a group of reasonable counterparties teaming up against a single aggressor, like an Indiana man who’s turned his grandmother’s house into an unauthorized urban farm. (Though Fishman and Redford do make a retired gay couple with an indoor hot tub that takes up most of their living room the face of the opposition. I’d love to hang out with them!) The most are those who have met their match and are too blinded by rage to see it. I laughed out loud when a woman’s adult son excused himself from her venting, explaining that “this is probably one of the dumbest arguments I’ve ever seen.” The only person who agrees on the importance of locating the property line happens to be his mother’s sworn enemy.
For the finale, though, Fishman and Redford break form. At first, a San Diego man squabbling with his neighbors over whether he should exercise near-nude in his driveway in full view of a church seems like standard fare for “Neighbors.” Then their subject starts to flirt with the idea of disengaging and moving to a like-minded nudist community, even relocating for a few days to test the new setup out. The saga has a more full and satisfying arc than other, more fragmentary ones while teasing out the series’ subtext: that this level of aggravation is, on some level, a choice. These “Neighbors” may point fingers at others , but the show also functions as a hard look in the mirror.
“Neighbors” will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Feb. 13 at 9 p.m. PT, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Fridays.