This review was made possible by Popped receiving advanced screeners of Neighbors from HBO.
When news broke that Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein (Marty Supreme) were executive producing A24’s first unscripted series, I was already excited for Neighbors. Then the trailer dropped, and with it came the promise of an utterly bonkers ride through ongoing neighborly conflicts throughout the country. What executive producers and directors Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford end up delivering is just that, with a rare, unflinching comedic precision.
Love Your Neighbors
While Seth Rogen’s Neighbors (2014) is not in any way related to HBO’s Neighbors, it’s conveniently a close conceptual analog to give you a rough idea of what the series is about. While countless people lead peaceful lives in harmony with their neighbors, a special few aren’t so lucky… and sometimes things are blown way out of proportion, to a hilarious degree. The show aptly begins with a shot of Earth, quickly zooming in on the locations of the episode’s subjects, as if to provide a reminder that the petty squabbles we’re about to witness are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. From there, we’re introduced to each of the rivaling parties in two separate conflicts between neighbors in the US. Across the show’s six episodes, these issues range from arguments over ambiguous property lines, to offensive eyesores across the street.
It’s the way viewers are thrown into the middle of what feels like these larger-than-life, older-than-time bickering matches that lays the foundation for the genius of the show. When two opposing parties are introduced, it often feels like there’s a clear sense of who’s in the right, and who’s in the wrong. But as the episode progresses, you’ll realize it’s not that simple. Any bias you form (or that’s manufactured by editing) begins to erode away as you start to see the flaws in the perceived protagonist. And often both sides show more cracks when put under a lens, spiraling into a crescendo of chaos all around.
’Neighbors’ Takes A Page Out Of Nathan Fielder’s Playbook
There tends to be an enticing hook about each conflict present in Neighbors — whether it’s the nature of the actual fight, or an apparent quirk of one of the parties’ personalities. It’s these hooks that got these residents onto the series in the first place, as Fishman and Redford scoured local newspapers, small claims court databases, neighborhood Facebook groups, and TikTok during pre-production. This thorough casting search for real, ridiculous, pre-existing feuds led to a great season of TV. But it’s the direction and editing that push it into being a phenomenal one. For starters, there’s no narrator or interviewer present. We just observe the intimate details of all sides, as the neighbors talk to their family, their rivals, and even the camera. The story simply plays out without explanation or manipulation by an outside voice. But the editing process consistently enables the camera to slyly embody that voice, by cleverly choosing what to show viewers, and when.
Sometimes that means holding back on revealing a key piece of context of the conflict, so it lands as a heavy-hitting punchline after you’ve settled into your expectations for the episode’s narrative. But other times, there are details about these homeowners’ lives that I can’t fathom would have been fully known to the directors in the casting process. This is where they excel doing what fellow HBO series creator Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal) does so well. The directors hone in on whatever strange tidbit they can find, and just go all in, mining it for all its comedy gold. Maybe it’s a specific piece of furnishing in a home, or a detail in a person’s career history. Sometimes the payoff is a just a shot that you see in passing that gets a chuckle. But sometimes it’s a rabbit hole into weirder and wilder territory.
The neighborly conflicts, in a way, are just a starting point. It’s not hard to believe that many of these homeowners who obsessively post dramatic footage to YouTube or TikTok chronicling their neighbors perhaps aren’t the most well-adjusted. Of course they’re bound to have quirks… it’s almost inherent fact. But there’s also an underlying humanity (usually) sitting underneath their flaws and misguided behavior, and that’s one other thing the series presents perfectly. Most of these people aren’t bad people. They do bad things, they get stuck in unhealthy behaviors, and they’re emotionally shortsighted. But they just want peace. And control. And freedom. And love. Unfortunately, in the end, they don’t always learn the right lesson on how to healthily obtain those things. But it’s a welcome cautionary tale for all of us, and a learning experience so we can show grace to even our most obnoxious neighbors on this little rock we call Earth.
‘Neighbors’ – Final Thoughts
A24’s foray into unscripted television with Neighbors is an astounding success. It’s a frenetic odyssey through the lives of homeowners across the country that perfectly balances broad strokes of real human storytelling with a laser-focused, unyielding comedic style that stands tall alongside the likes of Nathan Fielder’s work. It’s a captivating, riotous masterpiece that’s bound to have you both gasping and gut-laughing to the very end.
Neighbors premieres on HBO and HBO Max on February 13 at 9pm. Check out a trailer below:
The Review
Neighbors
A24’s foray into unscripted television with Neighbors is an astounding success. It’s a frenetic odyssey through the lives of homeowners across the country that perfectly balances broad strokes of real human storytelling with a laser-focused, unyielding comedic style that stands tall alongside the likes of Nathan Fielder’s work. It’s a captivating, riotous masterpiece that’s bound to have you both gasping and gut-laughing to the very end.
