Grew Up in the ’80s or ’90s? Then You Either Loved the Mall… or Loathed It.

Maybe a little bit of both?

Back then, malls were the epicenter of teen life and pop culture. But they were also a flashpoint—accused of stealing business from “Main Street, USA” and turning cities into carbon-copy consumer hubs. The irony? Today, those same malls are fading into oblivion, thanks to the rise of e-commerce and Amazon.

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So what’s Joe Public supposed to do about it?

How about… live in a mall for free?

Believe it or not, a group of artists actually did just that in the early 2000s—in Providence, Rhode Island.

Secret Mall Apartment, a new documentary executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg and directed by Jeremy Workman (The World Before Your Feet), tells the wild true story of eight young Rhode Islanders who built and lived in a hidden apartment inside the Providence Place Mall for four years.

They snuck in furniture. Tapped into mall electricity. Even built a cinderblock wall with a locking door—smuggling in more than two tons of materials. It sounds like an elaborate prank, but it was far more than that. The space became a deeply personal refuge, a creative act of rebellion against gentrification, and a bold, boundary-pushing public art installation.

And now, the story is finally getting the attention it deserves. Jesse Eisenberg recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, joking about living under Fallon’s desk for the past year—a nod to the film. And none other than documentary legend Ken Burns took to Twitter and Facebook to praise Secret Mall Apartment, calling it insightful, funny, and profound.

Told through a mix of raw archival footage and candid interviews, the film explores the lives of the apartment’s residents—especially artist Michael Townsend, the mastermind behind the whole thing. Townsend isn’t just a prankster. He’s a thoughtful creator who’s brought his work across the country, from honoring bombing victims in Oklahoma City to bringing joy to children’s hospitals nationwide.

Secret Mall Apartment is a story about art, resistance, and reimagining the spaces we take for granted. It’s a reminder that meaning can be made anywhere—even in the most commercialized corners of our culture.

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