1991’s severely underrated “Career Opportunities” revolved primarily around one night in the life of Frank Whaley’s department store custodian as he works a shift at employer Target while simultaneously romancing Jennifer Connelly, while “Dawson’s Creek” used a similar conceit in a season six episode, seeing Joey and Pacey locked overnight within the recesses of another retail giant; even Nickelodeon Magazine joined the fray with their 1990 premiere issue, hiding within its pages a short story about children stranded at a similar store and the misadventures that result. The idea of spending time in places such as these during a time of day when this sort of act would never be allowed is as tried and true a plot device in the spirit of the Basil E. Frankweilers of the narrative world, but in “Secret Mall Apartment,“ director Jeremy Workman (“Lily Topples the World”) takes a documentary approach to a kindred real-life event as much a form of rebellion as an expression of art.
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As the eight creatives directly involved tell it, the construction of the Providence Place Mall in the late 1990s served as fuel for what was to happen eventually; this particular shopping center, seen by many as a frustrating example of gentrification and an unwelcome blight on the local landscape, would go on to find its way into the crosshairs of artist/teacher Michael Townsend, who in 2003 would recruit a group of colleagues to construct living space hidden away within the mall and which would become a transitory place to live over the course of four years. This, however, was far from a shoddy effort; furniture, gaming consoles, and appliances adorned the space, all enclosed by cinderblock walls and a sense of community that would only further strengthen their relationships and work. Unfortunately, and perhaps inevitably, the apartment wouldn’t stay a secret forever, with Townsend taking the fall following the discovery and his project swiftly ending; it’s here, years later, that Townsend is joined by his seven former “roommates,“ none of whom have spoken publicly of their involvement to this point.
It’s a fascinating story, though it seems the film thinks it something akin to a “Man on Wire,“ with various stabs at tension seen most notably during the apartment’s later reveal as well as its creation, though there does exist some genuinely nail-biting moments, such as a clip of mall security driving by as the group load cinderblocks into the mall one evening. Such snippets are common throughout, opting to rely on surveillance footage, hidden bodycams, and the like. At the same time, the interviews present a team of like-minded individuals, all armed with the ability to articulately recall their time spent at the secret mall apartment in great detail. News broadcasts of the era dot the opening, acting as a crash course for the audience on the history of the mall and setting the tone for the group’s motivation; it’s beyond clear that they’re artists, as seen by video scraps of various installations such as a rather unique tunnel-set piece incorporating oddly-posed mannequins. With the original long gone, Workman has undertaken the task of recreating the apartment for the sake of his film, which plays heavily into the film’s third act as the group tours the facsimile while they reminisce on life back then, what it was like to live in a mall and the time when they realized it was all about to end.
As urban renewal continues to spread, a sort of planetary recycling that’s unlikely to cease, a space where artists can come together for any purpose will just as equally continue to operate under the threat of destruction; indeed, another impetus for the genesis of the mall can be seen early in the film, when an underground punk rock club known as Fort Thunder meets its demise at the hands of developers, another way in which Workman does what he can to establish a looming presence of “The Man,“ complete with interviews conducted on industry experts and former city officials. It’s refreshing, then, to see Townsend and company retreat to their work-in-progress after purchasing a large bag of popcorn from the mall’s movie theater, meant to serve as sustenance as they sneak off to build out their living space but also due to the fact that the food court was closed. It’s an innocent way of sticking it to said man, or maybe just a clip of their simple meal as they carry out their illegal activities. Either way, it’s strangely endearing.
Nothing about Townsend’s plan was new; people have explored abandoned malls for decades, lived in storage units, and, as many may recall, once took up residence in an airport terminal. The decline of the shopping mall in the wake of e-commerce could be seen as karma, and the eight friends who once lived at the Providence Place Mall have been adults for decades, now in possession of some very specific memories this film helps to celebrate. It’s unclear what Workman’s intention may have been regarding tone. The structure overall can’t help but drift into the realm of traditional documentary filmmaking more often than not. Still, if the aim was to assemble a time capsule, a gift for all those involved and those curious about how it was possible to inhabit a secret mall apartment once, it’s an irrefutable victory. [B]
