‘Good Neighbors” is a compact noir set in Montreal in 1995, in the run-up to a referendum on the future of French-speaking Quebec. But locals have their minds on more than the election — a sexually deviant serial killer who targets women in an Anglo neighborhood.
The story focuses on three young residents of a middle-class apartment building: Chinese-restaurant worker Louise (Emily Hampshire); handsome Spencer (Scott Speedman), who has a thing for pet fish and Dvorak, and has been confined to a wheelchair since the car crash that killed his wife; and newcomer Victor (Jay Baruchel), a nerdy teacher who develops a fondness for misfit Louise.
Louise, whose life revolves around her cats, Mozart and Tia Maria, is freaked out by the murders. She asks a laconic cop if she should be worried about her own safety. “A woman of your age should always be concerned,” she’s told. “It’s a nasty world.” Indeed it is, as we gradually learn that each of the three neighbors has a dark secret.
Working from a 1982 novel set in Quebec City, director-writer Jacob Tierney provides enough thrills and surprises, even a little satire, to keep viewers’ attention.