In this country and around the world there are so many stories that we never heard of that happen on a regular basis. There are so many people in so many towns across the country that it’s hard to know about everything going on all over the place, especially in Providence,  Rhode Island, a city in the smallest state in the United States. Secret Mall Apartment is one of those films about a story in Providence,  Rhode Island. It’s a story that if it didn’t happen you wouldn’t believe it.

Michael Townsend is an art teacher in Providence,  Rhode Island. He had a group of friends, Adriana, Andrew, and Jay,  when he was younger who hung out at the newly built Providence Place Mall.  While they were exploring their favorite shops and eating at the food court they decided to explore their home away from home a little bit further. While doing so they find an unused space. They decide to turn the space into a place where they and their friends can hang out.

With the help of four more of their closest friends, James, Emily, Colin, and Greta who help them turn this empty space into an apartment.  They move a bunch of furniture including a hutch, television, and a long couch up a steep set of stairs into this secret hideaway. They have turned this little space into a home away from home. They sleep there occasionally, but mostly they come and go from their personal lives, families, and jobs. 

Director Jeremy Workman is most famously known for his last film Lilly Topples the World. About a young girl who creates art shapes using dominoes. A beautiful documentary.  He hits another home run with Secret Mall Apartment. He makes these men and women who are technically breaking the law come across as sympathetic because of their work. They are mostly artists like Townsend and they do some humanitarian work. With 9/11 and the Oklahoma bombings in the past, they decided to do art that shows appreciation for the men and women who were lost in those bombings. They were terrific people even though they were illegally breaking and entering at the Providence Place Mall.

Workman uses the typical talking heads of the eight people who were mainly involved in this story, but he also uses video footage recorded by the foursome themselves when they were younger. What a genius idea by them at the time. They couldn’t have known that there would be a documentary about their illegal exploits. It worked out in the end though because we now have the film about this incredible true story. He also adds news footage at the time when this happened. Even though these are the typical types of things that documentary filmmakers use in their films, Workman makes the best of them in a great way.

I think that this story would be relatable to a lot of young people or older people for that matter because a lot of people struggle with finances. I struggle to pay my bills every month. I would have loved to find a place like this to live in where I didn’t have to pay rent for four years. I already sleep on a couch so it would be perfect for me. Alas with my luck something so good as this would never happen to me. I don’t know if I would even have the balls to break the law like Michael did. He had a lot of guts to do this illegal activity.  

Secret Mall Apartment is a film about something that is so crazy you just can’t believe it’s true but it is. Michael Townsend is a very reliable guy and he and his friends turned out to be really good people despite illegally breaking and entering the Providence Place Mall for four years. They genuinely did some amazing humanitarian work in their lives. Workman creates a story where the audience can get behind these people even though they’re doing wrong, technically.  The narrative here is fantastic despite the situation. I can’t say I wouldn’t do what these people did given similar circumstances.  I sure would have not like to have paid  my rent for four years that for sure. This is another fantastic documentary from Workman. It’s a little to good to be true if it weren’t actually true.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen