Tania Lorena Rivera

Robert Frost once wrote, “Good fences make good neighbors,” meaning that well-established boundaries make good relationships. But what happens when people trespass those boundaries? When neighbors dare to steal a glance over their fences or peek through their neighbor’s window?

Alfred Hitchcock famously explored this question in his iconic movie Rear Window. A man in a wheelchair and housebound due to a leg injury observes his neighbors from his rear window and witnesses a murder. Many films have copied the same formula or come up with unnerving plots that have the audience questioning how well they know the person next door.

Note: This is the original version of an article I wrote for Collider. The version currently available online has been updated by other contributors.