Review: Feuding Neighbors Snoop on Their Enemies

The word neighbors evokes white picket fences, borrowed cups of sugar, Norman Rockwell, and Mr. Rogers. The HBO docuseries Neighbors shows the decay of this ideal in a world saturated with surveillance technology.

Each episode chronicles petty arguments between neighbors that escalate into shouting matches, lawsuits, and worse. The show’s subjects include a conspiracy theorist, a self-proclaimed interstellar traveler, a cosplaying TikToker, and an elderly nudist with an OnlyFans page. They are odd, cranky, and quintessentially American.

In the show, nearly every dispute is recorded and shared. These nosy neighbors use social media in the most cringe and intrusive ways imaginable, posting videos of their arguments over property lines and beach access. The embattled foes claim they want to end their disputes, but they also delight in checking their surveillance cameras for new infractions to post online and, in some cases, monetize. The feuds become both hobbies and side hustles.

The omnipresent cameras only add to the animosity, and the enemies drag each other before judges—including TV’s Judge Judy—and community boards to resolve their problems. These local cranks go to extremes to defend their suburban farms, their big ugly walls, and their choice to publicly exercise in a thong. But many of them also create mini surveillance states to spy on people next door.