The Good Neighbor is a 2016 American thriller film directed by Kasra Farahani and written by Mark Bianculli and Jeff Richard.

Ethan (Miller) and Sean (Gilchrist) are tech-savvy high-school teenagers who decide to prank their neighbor Harold Grainey (Caan) by convincing him that his house is haunted.

Grainey has a reputation for being hostile, a recluse, and a "creepy old man" in the neighborhood, which makes it easier for Ethan to justify choosing him as his subject.

Ethan starts to initiate activities aimed at unsettling Grainey to make him believe the house is haunted, including making the kitchen door bang loudly in the middle of the night, disabling the heating system (which causes the bedroom window to shatter because of the freezing temperature), and activating the stereo in the middle of the night.

For example, a flashback shows Grainey's wife dancing to music at 3 a.m. and crying, and one of the activities the boys do is play the same song at a similar time.

It is then revealed in a series of flashbacks that Grainey loved his wife dearly, and he had set up a room where he could take care of her, including arranging a nurse.

The Austin, Texas premiere, through the South by Southwest Film Festival, was well attended and featured appearances from the director, producers and stars.

[1] On May 10, 2016, Variety announced that Vertical Entertainment had acquired North American theatrical distribution rights,[2] with a release tentatively planned for fall of 2016.

[6] Dennis Harvey of Variety noted that, despite featuring few locations, the film "doesn't suffer from staginess or claustrophobia", though he pined for "more insight into the protagonists’ family, friends and community.

"[7] Trace Thurman of Bloody Disgusting singled out James Caan, saying that he delivered "an understated performance with extremely minimal dialogue.