Secret Mall Apartment: The Intriguing Documentary Taking Netflix By Storm

The fascinating documentary Secret Mall Apartment has arrived on Netflix, and it deserves every bit of its success. The film, which has a 98% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, was first released in 2024 in limited theaters and managed a shocking $850,000 at the global box office. Now, two years later, Secret Mall Apartment has claimed monumental streaming success as well.

Since its arrival on Netflix on January 23, 2026, Secret Mall Apartment has climbed to the #4 spot on Netflix's global top 10 movies. This is quite an achievement, since documentaries tend to perform well on Netflix only if they fall within the true-crime genre. Secret Mall Apartment is a fitting exception, since its unique premise is more than enough to draw viewers in, and the surprisingly complex themes keep them hooked.

What Is Secret Mall Apartment About?

Secret Mall Apartment dives into the true story of a group of eight young artists who established a secret apartment inside an abandoned utility area of the Providence Place mall in 2003. After 20 years, these individuals, Michael Townsend, Colin Bliss, Adriana Valdez-Young, Andrew Oesch, Greta Scheing, James Mercer, Emily Ustach, and Jay Zehngebot—collectively called the Trummerkind—finally consented to having their story told.

The Trummerkind were caught after four years living in the 850-square-foot space, and were subsequently charged with trespassing. However, this risky endeavor and the authorities' eventual discovery account for only a small portion of the Secret Mall Apartment. Instead, this documentary is about the meaningful community this group created in the face of Providence's gentrification.

Secret Mall Apartment Is A Brilliant Documentary

The idea of eight people living in a mall for four years certainly has an entertainment factor. However, Secret Mall Apartment wouldn't be nearly as successful if that were all there was to the documentary. It was important to Townsend and his friends that their story be told with an emphasis on their art and the true purpose of their living arrangement in the early 2000s.

Secret Mall Apartment is a shockingly thought-provoking documentary, introducing viewers to a challenging period in Providence's history. The region had undergone a massive economic shift, with the financial elite further prioritized over the general population. Part of this process was the destruction of the Fort Thunder artist commune. The Trummerkind's secret apartment was an artistic form of rebellion against these developments.

The themes captured by Secret Mall Apartment revolve around the importance of human connection, cooperation, and art, as well as society's responsibility for creating spaces where these concepts can thrive. Creator Jeremy Workman has said (via Moveable Fest) that he set up the documentary like "the Trojan Horse," marketing Secret Mall Apartment as a superficial exploration of a funny situation but shifting the focus to those deeper themes. The result is something absolutely exceptional.

Netflix Needs More Documentaries That Are Not True Crime

Secret Mall Apartment is far from Netflix's first successful documentary. The streaming platform has done exceptionally well in this regard, and there is often at least one project of this kind on Netflix's top 10. However, these are typically true crime documentaries or docuseries. The restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to increase public interest in these stories, and Netflix responded by going all in.

Though true crime feeds audiences' fascination with humanity's most twisted minds, it's great to see a more inspiring, cognitive documentary make it big on Netflix. It's a sign that the streaming platform should double down on this sort of experience. Perhaps, if Secret Mall Apartment continues to trend, Netflix will grant that wish.