Secret Mall Apartment is a new documentary that tells the story of displaced youth who made a mall a home. Eight Rhode Islanders inhabited the new Providence Place mall from 2003 to 2007, using camcorders to film much of their journey. That footage set the stage for an intimate documentary that has already won over critic in advance of its wider release. Secret Mall Apartment was directed by Jeremy Workman and executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg.
ScreenRant is excited to present a poster and promo for Secret Mall Apartment. The poster highlights some of the young artists who decided to make Providence Place Mall their home, while the promo sets the stage for the events of the documentary that The Daily Beast called “A kiss-off to gentrification.” Take a look at the art below, which was designed by Frost Foundry. The promo features cinematography by Jeremy Workman, production design by Grace Bilbao, and music by Olivier and Clare Manchon. Secret Mall Apartment will come to select theaters on March 21.
How Secret Mall Apartment Is Both Nostalgic & More Timely Than Ever
At first glance, even the promo for Secret Mall Apartment takes viewers back to a different time. Thanks to a wealth of footage captured by the mall dwellers, Secret Mall Apartment invites viewers back to the pre-iPhone days of handheld camcorders and grainy video. The documentary is far from nostalgia bait, but the fact that the film looks so humble and handmade arguably helps its very modern themes regarding capitalism and gentrification bubble to the surface in a way that is not heavy-handed.
Secret Mall Apartment is, at its core, a reaction to capitalism and gentrification, which in 2025 have reached heights unimaginable when the footage was filmed. As the trailer reveals, the eight Rhode Islanders who were inspired to move into Providence Place Mall did so because their housing was being destroyed to make way for its construction. There are plenty of documentaries and movies about money, but Secret Mall Apartment details the way that corporate greed and expansion can have consequences that most consumers don’t organically consider. With billionaires and corporate expansion more a part of national dialogue than arguably ever before, Secret Mall Apartment may be arriving at the perfect time.
Ultimately, the best documentaries offer audiences much to take away from their viewing experience. Secret Mall Apartment looks to do just that–it’s a story about artists and rule-breakers who did something that could easily sound like urban legend, and pulled it off for years. On the surface, that makes for a fun story that has the potential to draw anyone in, inviting them later to consider how many people have lost housing due to development and gentrification, and what it means for those who don’t have a secret mall apartment of their own.
Secret Mall Apartment will be released in select theaters on March 21.
Secret Mall Apartment
- Release Date
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March 8, 2024
- Runtime
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91 Minutes
- Director
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Jeremy Workman
- Producers
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Jesse Eisenberg