Autumn 2025 brought a film called Roofman, a tale of a criminal who hid in a Toys R Us to escape arrest. With 2024’s Secret Mall Apartment, we get a documentary that follows a similar real-life theme.

When they see ads in 2003 that make life literally lived in a shopping center sound appealing, a group of Rhode Island artists decide to go to town with this concept. Conceived as both a challenge to each other as well as a protest against urban expansion, they decide to create their own hidden abode in the Providence Place Mall.

Though initially intended to last a brief period, the “occupation” lasts years. Their “secret mall apartment” becomes an unusual enterprise.

Much of the documentary involves the actual “secret mall apartment” residents, so we hear from Adriana Valdez Young, Michael Townsend, Andrew Oesch, Jay Zehngebot, James Mercer, Emily Ustach, Colin Bliss and Greta Scheing.

In addition, we get notes from historians J. Hogue and Francis Leazes Jr., former City of Providence Director of Administration Patricia McLaughlin, Urban Studies Professor Marion Orr, Providence Department of Culture Director Lizzie Araujo Haller, artists Glenn Lavertu, Ian Cozzens, Umberto Crenca, Xander Marro and Jim Drain, AS220 Arts Organization founder Umberto Crenca, Providence Department of Arts Deputy Director Michah Salkind, former Hasbro Children’s Hospital Healing Arts Director Paula Most, Michael Townsend’s mother Joan, Michael Townsend’s brother Brady, Michael Townsend’s girlfriend Emily Bryant, production designer Suja Ono, Metropolitan Museum of Art associate curator Lauren Rosati, Cultural Studies Professor Martha Kuhlman and musicians Brian Chippendale, Stephen Mattos and Raphael Lyon.

Sometimes the topic of a documentary seems more intriguing than the actual events. Unfortunately, Secret falls into that category.

Given the subterfuge involved and the basic nuttiness of the fact eight people built and resided in a hidden shopping center condo, one would anticipate lots of fascinating details about the project and how it evolved. This doesn’t occur.

Honestly, the filmmakers appear oddly disinterested in the titular subject matter. Secret tends to go out of its way to talk about anything other than the apartment and how its residents lived.

Secret meanders away from that subject an awful lot of the time. Logically, the movie would give us the chronological development of the apartment and toss in background as it goes.

Instead, it comes with some basics before it wanders to other semi-related domains. Some of these seem useful to the overall picture but too many feel tangential.

If Secret found a way to integrate these smoothly, I wouldn’t mind. However, the movie meanders so much that it delivers frustration.

By the third act, the filmmakers remember the title and finally delve into the nature of the location a bit more. This seems like too little, too late.

Secret simply devotes far too much screen time to self-indulgent domains like the production’s recreation of the apartment. We don’t learn nearly enough about the titular condo and its occupants.

This becomes a real disappointment, as the basic subject matter here seems potentially fascinating. Unfortunately, Secret turns into a superficial and less than coherent view of these domains.

Secret Mall Apartment appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. A mix of modern footage and archival clips, the end result offered the expected visuals.

Unsurprisingly, the late 1990s/early 2000s material fared the worst. All from videotape, these elements looked blocky and bland and showed the usual format-based artifacts.

At least the 2020s interview shots seemed much better, with consistently good delineation. No issues with jagged edges or shimmering impacted these and they came without edge haloes or source defects.

For the interview shots, colors leaned natural and subdued. The hues came across as well-developed.

Blacks seemed dark and clear. Despite the inevitable anomalies with the archival footage, the end result looked fine.

Don’t expect fireworks from the low-key DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. Beyond all the dialogue, music offered gentle spread to the front side channels.

Some light score appeared in the back speakers as well but this added little to the proceedings. Effects seemed to emanate from the front center and showed no obvious presence elsewhere.

Audio quality worked fine, with speech that sounded accurate and natural. Music showed appealing range and clarity.

As noted, effects lacked much to do but they felt reasonably concise given that most came from old videotape recordings. The soundtrack seemed appropriate for this kind of project.

When we move to extras, we begin with a featurette called The Mall and the Movie. It goes for eight minutes, 26 seconds and involves director Jeremy Workman, journalist Dan McGowan, Providence Place receiver Mark Russo, Providence Place consultant Kim Ward, National Amusements Director of Marketing Michael Long, Providence Place Cinema 16 manager Charlie Griffiths, newscaster Pamela Watts and movie subjects Colin Bliss, Andrew Oesch and Michael Townsend.

We hear about the decision to run Secret at the mall where it took place. While fluffy, it comes with some interesting notes, especially as related to Townsend’s “ban” from the shopping center.

Jesse Eisenberg Q&A spans a mere two minutes, 43 seconds and shows the film’s executive producer as he promotes the movie. Workman appears as well but we don’t really learn anything substantial.

In the same vein, Theater Q&As goes for 11 minutes, 36 seconds. Here we get notes from Workman, Townsend, and subject Adriana Valdez Young.

The program looks at what brought Workman to the project as well as his approach to the subject matter, nuts and bolts of the footage, showing the movie at the Providence Place Mall, Eisenberg’s involvement, the recreated apartment and the movie’s final scene. We get a decent look at the domains, albeit not in depth.

On the Marquee fills two minutes, six seconds and simply shows the storefronts of some theaters where Secret played. This seems self-indulgent and pointless.

Next comes Jesse Eisenberg Reads Letterboxd Reviews, a two-minute, 16-second reel in which… Jesse Eisenberg reads Letterboxd reviews. Essentially promotional, it doesn’t do much more than praise the flick.

Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Townsend in Conversation shows… Jessie Eisenberg and Michael Townsend in conversation. It goes for 25 minutes, eight seconds.

The pair interact as they discuss Eisenberg’s involvement and his experiences in Providence, thoughts about the mall, aspects of the movie’s release, and their art. A few insights appear but mostly Eisenberg and Townsend fluff each other across this tedious reel.

Eight Deleted and Additional Scenes occupy a total of 15 minutes, 20 seconds and show more footage shot by the apartment inhabitants. The clips seem surprisingly forgettable and don’t bring anything of real interest.

After this we get a Timelapse of the Building of the Recreation Set (1:04) that reveals the construction of the apartment reconstruction. It doesn’t seem especially interesting.

Finally, Tape Art In Mobile lasts 5 minutes, 46 seconds and demonstrates more of Michael Townsend’s art. Originally intended for inclusion in Secret, I feel happy it didn’t make the final film because Secret already spends too much time with tangential topics like this.

The disc opens with ads for Naked Ambition, Stuffed, Revenge of the Mekons, Fifi Howls From Happiness and Smash & Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers. We also get the traiiler for Secret as well as a Promo Compilation (4:37) with nine additional ads.

On the surface, Secret Mall Apartment sounds like a fascinating story, and in the hands of different filmmakers, perhaps that would become the case. In this instance, however, the documentary turns into a maddeningly random and barely coherent take on the subject. The Blu-ray comes with acceptable picture and audio as well as a moderate mix of supplements. While I expected to find an absorbing tale of an unusual endeavor, Secret lacks purpose and never comes together.