Secret Mall Apartment tells the stranger-than-fiction true story of a group of friends who lived in a hidden space inside a mall for four years—completely undetected. Blending intimate interviews and self-shot archival footage, this wildly entertaining and poignant documentary depicts an act of rebellious artistry in an era of consumerism that will make you appreciate the fleeting nature of life.

The film opens with humorous news segments that show how, in 2003, eight young Rhode Islanders built a secret apartment inside the newly opened Providence Place Mall, where they lived undetected for four years. However, they weren’t just rebellious squatters—they were RISD students and artists, part of a thriving underground scene.

Before this, we learn that this quirky artistic bunch, led by the group’s eccentric and visionary leader Michael Townsend, was displaced, losing their creative and living spaces to redevelopment. Their mall apartment was more than a shelter; it was a statement—an artistic rebellion against capitalism’s grip on public space.

And so, they smuggled in furniture, ran electricity, and installed a locked door that only they had the key to. What began as an experiment in survival became a meditation on public versus private space, consumer culture, and the audacity of turning a corporate mall into a personal sanctuary.

Director Jeremy Workman (who also produced and edited the film) tells this bizarre and brilliant story with a creative and sharp eye. The film’s unconventional style blends sit-down interviews with low-res, old point-and-shoot video footage that the friends all shot, plus re-creations that immerse the audience in the era. The very existence of this footage is incredible, making the documentary feel like a time capsule of an impossible moment.

Secret Mall Apartment also shows how the group’s creativity extended into the world. They pioneered large-scale tape art installations, decorating Hasbro Children’s Hospital with intricate murals. After 9/11, they brought public art to New York, offering a moment of beauty amid devastation. These projects reinforce the film’s themes—art as resistance, as expression, and as a way to make the impermanent feel permanent, if only briefly.

While Secret Mall Apartment is a fascinating and well-crafted portrait, one lingering question remains: beyond celebrating these artists, what does it truly reveal about them? The film touches on Michael’s struggles, including the unraveling of his marriage, but doesn’t fully explore the long-term consequences of their lifestyle, or what they may have been running from.

Ultimately, Secret Mall Apartment holds a secret of its own. Beneath its humor and spectacle lies a meditation on impermanence—on lives hidden in plain sight and on a world that, much like the apartment itself, was never meant to last.