The Loft (film)

The Loft is a 2014 erotic thriller film directed by Erik Van Looy. It is a remake of the 2008 Dutch-language Belgian film Loft, which Van Looy also directed. The screenplay was written by Bart De Pauw and adapted by Wesley Strick. Starring Karl Urban, James Marsden, and Wentworth Miller, it also features Matthias Schoenaerts, who reprises his role from the original film.

The film was shot in mid-2011, but its theatrical release was delayed by a change of the film distributor. Dark Castle Entertainment originally acquired the US distribution rights, as they did for Splice, with the intention of releasing the film through Warner Bros. When Joel Silver moved his office to Universal Studios, he took Dark Castle, and the film with him. Universal planned to release the film on August 29, 2014, but the studio pulled it from the schedule in favor of Legendary Pictures' As Above, So Below. Universal and Dark Castle dropped the film, which was then picked up by Open Road Films, who released it on January 30, 2015.^[3][4][5][6] Universal retained the US home entertainment rights through its ancillaries deal with Open Road. Dark Castle did not release another film until 2017's Suburbicon with Paramount Pictures.

Five married men share ownership of an upmarket loft, which they use for discreetly meeting their respective mistresses. When the body of a murdered woman Sarah Deakins is found in that loft, the men begin to suspect each other of having committed the gruesome crime, as they are the only ones with keys to the premises. Through flashbacks, which are intertwined with scenes from the present, the story is unravelled.

The five men are:

• Vincent Stevens: architect and designer of the building where the loft is situated. Married to Barbara and father of their children, he initially suggests the five friends use the loft as a private oasis. He is set up by the other men to be accused of the murder.
• Dr. Chris Vanowen: a psychiatrist married to Allison and half-brother to Philip. Chris and Philip have a half-sister, Zoe. He is the most reluctant of the men to loft idea and the last to accept a key; Chris eventually does so because he is attracted to Anne, who eventually becomes his mistress. Anne warns Chris not to fall in love with her because she is a prostitute, and he gives her his key as proof he does not use the loft with other women.
• Luke Seacord: married to Ellie, who is an insulin-dependent diabetic. He discovers the body in the loft and initially calls Vincent and the others over. The police later insinuate that Luke is attracted to Vincent, and it is Luke who records the men's activities in the loft without their knowledge.
• Marty Landry: heavy drinker and an obvious lecherer. He and his wife Mimi separate when a woman Marty slept with on a business trip shows up at his home.
• Philip Williams: half-brother to Chris as they have the same mother and recently married to Vicky, the only daughter of a wealthy property developer who is also Philip’s boss. Philip is a drug user who grew up in a dysfunctional household with his abusive father and is very protective of his younger sister Zoe. He warns the other men off having sex with her.

On June 6, 2011, principal photography began in New Orleans. After a few weeks, filming moved to the studios in Brussels, Belgium. Production wrapped up on July 27, 2011.^[7]

After several delays, Open Road finally released The Loft on January 30, 2015, in the United States, with a wide release in 1,841 screens.^[8][9]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 14% based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 3.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Populated with characters as unpleasant as its sleazy storyline, The Loft is uninhabitable for all but the least demanding erotic thriller fans."^[10] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 24 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.^[12][13]

J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader wrote: "The twisty plot translates to any culture where swinging-dick businessmen cheat on their wives — which is to say, any culture."^[14] Jim Lane of the Sacramento News & Review wrote that "the solution is both simple and complicated, and quite satisfying".^[15] Jason Best of Movie Talk writes: "The plotting gets too clever by half towards the end, but with striking support from Rachael Taylor and Isabel Lucas this remains a slick and stylish whodunit."^[16] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter praised the cinematography and said that "the film could well serve to encourage both extramarital affairs and the sale of upscale loft apartments".^[17] Joe Leydon for Variety writes: "Still, there can be no denying the interest and suspense Van Looy and scripter Wesley Strick generate during the opening scenes as they set the plot mechanics into motion."^[18] Roger Moore for Tribune News Service called the film well-cast and said that Schoenaerts "provides some fireworks and the old-fashioned theatricality of it might appeal to some — even Hitchcock himself".^[19]

The Loft grossed $6 million in the United States and $5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $11 million.^[2]

• The Loft at IMDb