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.