Jasper Mall

The epitome of a slice-of-life documentary! Jasper Mall offers such straightforward Middle America vibes that anyone who's never left the big city they grew up in might find this pretty alien. It's so low key, so go-with-the-flow, so "real time" feeling that it manages a dreamlike quality. Of course, the dreamlike pace also comes from the disciplined editing, the reflective ambient score, and the beautiful photography. There is an endearing quality to this doc, but also an underlying melancholy all the way through.

I think the average person would think "nothing happens in this movie", but that's beside the point. What it comes down to is: I never thought I would see malls become a thing of the past in my entire lifetime. Now, suddenly, we're here, and slowly, one by one, they're gonna start shutting down. What's the primary reason for this? Amazon, of course. Where did I watch this movie? On Amazon (Prime Video) - how meta is that?

The fact that this was shot in 2019, the year before the pandemic hit, also adds another element of surrealism to the viewing experience. It's almost like a precursor to the vacant vibes we were about to face. It makes you wonder - is the pandemic really expediting the obsoletion of so many things that we've been accustomed to our whole lives, as much as we think it is? Or, would most of this be happening soon any way?

In the end, I don't think you will walk away from Jasper Mall remembering many of the specific scenes for the rest of your life, maybe none of them at all, but it's an equally comforting and eerie thing to watch in our current state (nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic). It floats in this strange limbo between nostalgic warmth and dystopian apathy. It's a tasteful doc - subtle but with great purpose.

The movie was so unexpected to me. I kept rooting for the store managers that have put their lives into their business. A few key retail places moved so the whole mall is dying. It is a touching story of the mall manager, who used to keep wildlife in Australia, to the older white men who like to play dominoes at the mall. It is a clip, a small view into what makes our communities work. It is worth watching..make some popcorn and watch the Jasper Mall.

• If I live to be in my 80s, I'm probably going to become that old dude telling corny jokes at the mall, except I'll be reciting old memes from the 2010s.
• That young couple at the fair were pretty adorable. Even though I don't know them personally, I hope they're still together.
• I also liked those old dudes playing dominoes in the mall. Kinda looks like a fun time by elderly people standards tbh.
• I wish I could believe in heaven as easily as that guy in the motorised wheelchair near the beginning.

This is the kind of thing I might've found really boring if I was in a different mood, but I quite liked it. No logical reason why I dug something like this but hated the much-loved Grey Gardens, for example, which Jasper Mall is a little reminiscent of, in some ways.

It achieved and sustained an odd sense of melancholy that was quite unique; never depressing exactly, and not necessarily nostalgic, but never quite happy, either.

As a result, it was one-note (likely by design) and a little repetitive, but I have a feeling it could stick with me for a while, thanks to the quiet but admittedly unique emotions it made me feel while I watched it.

A beautifully structured observational documentary. Each vignette is a little gem. You really feel as if you know these people. And like the best documentaries, it doesn't make any judgement calls about the people whose lives you're witnessing. It certainly made me wistful for the shopping malls of my youth. Love that Santa! I really appreciated the thoughtful, evocative soundtrack as well.

The documentary provides a good picture of the current state of the American middle class. The various causes of the mall's decline emerge throughout the documentary.