Loft

Plot synopsis:
Five married men share ownership of an upmarket loft, which they use to discreetly meet their respective mistresses. When the body of a murdered woman 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 unraveled.
The five men are:
Vincent Stevens (Karl Urban): architect and designer of the building where the loft is situated; married to Barbara (Valerie Cruz) and has children; the one who initially suggests the five use the loft as a private oasis, he is set up by the other men to be accused of the murder.
Luke Seacord (Wentworth Miller): married to Ellie (Elaine Cassidy), who is an insulin-dependent diabetic; the one who discovered the body and initially calls Vincent and the others over to the loft. The police later insinuate that he is attracted to Vincent. He also recorded the men's activities in the loft without them knowing.
Dr. Chris Vanowen (James Marsden): a psychiatrist married to Allison (Rhona Mitra), half-brother to Philip. Chris and Philip have a half-sister, Zoe (Madison Burge). The most reluctant of the men to the idea and the last to accept a key to the loft, Chris eventually does so because he is attracted to Ann (Rachael Taylor), who eventually becomes his mistress. She tells Chris not to fall in love with her because she is a prostitute. He gives her his key as proof he does not use the loft with other women.
Marty Landry (Eric Stonestreet): married to Mimi (Kali Rocha); a heavy drinker and an obvious lech. He and Mimi become separated when a woman he fooled around with shows up at his home.
Philip Williams (Matthias Schoenaerts): half-brother to Chris as they have the same mother; recently married to Vicky (Margarita Levieva), who is the only daughter of a wealthy property developer, who is also his boss. He is a drug user who grew up in a dysfunctional household with his abusive father; very protective of his younger sister Zoe, and warns the other men off having sex with her.
The murder victim is Sarah Deakins (Isabel Lucas): Vincent, Luke, and Marty met her at a bar; both Vincent and Luke are attracted to her, but she hooks up with Vincent and becomes attached to him. At a party they are both attending, Sarah threatened to tell Vincent's wife about the affair as a way to have them break up, but she is dissuaded from this by Luke. She seemingly tries to commit suicide at the loft, by taking pills with champagne. She is discovered by Luke, who calls Chris, Marty and Philip, showing them a note to Vincent. The note read "See you in the next life"; this note is taken from the loft by Chris.
The men were motivated to set Vincent up by Luke, who showed them DVDs of Vincent having sex with Marty's wife, Mimi; Chris's prostitute, Ann (who Vincent had paid to allow Chris to seduce her, so that he would take a key to and use the loft), and Zoe, Philip and Chris's younger sister. Three of the men leave to set up their alibis, with Philip remaining at the loft to stage the scene. He takes some cocaine and cuts Sarah's wrists, using her bloodied finger to write a Latin phrase similar to that in her suicide note. He then handcuffs Sarah's right hand to the bed.
Over the course of the movie, as the five men discuss what to do with the body, Luke, Chris, Marty, and Philip drug Vincent, strip and handcuff him to the body on the bed. Before Vincent passes out completely, Chris tells him about Sarah's suicide and the contents of her note. While being questioned by the police, Vincent tells them of the set-up, but they do not believe him as the only prints found were Vincent's and Sarah's. They also have the DVDs of his sexual exploits, except the ones with Mimi, Ann, and Zoe; they won't believe him that Luke made the videos and the DVDs of the other men were not found. The police also mention that all four men have alibis for that morning — Chris and Luke were seen together having breakfast, Marty was at his office, Philip was alibied by his father-in-law (who was blackmailed with information about his own cheating, information Philip had because he knew Vincent used that same information to blackmail his father-in-law to give him a contract on a project).
Releasing Chris from interrogation, Detective Huggins (Kristin Lehman) tells him that Vincent has been arrested for murder; he is surprised as he thought Vincent would only be implicated in Sarah's suicide. The detective further states that the pills did not kill Sarah, that her wrist cuts were not self-inflicted, the prints on the knife were Vincent's and they didn't find a suicide note. The surprised Chris thanks Huggins and leaves. Outside of the police station, he reaches into his jacket pocket, only to find that the suicide note Luke gave to him is gone. He then walks to the loft and confronts Luke about the missing note. After initially denying that he had it, Luke leads Chris to the note, which was in the garbage. Chris looks at the note and wonders why Luke would get rid of the only evidence of the attempted suicide, speculating that Luke, not Sarah, was the author of the note. Luke then tells Chris everything; he framed Vincent, because he was attracted to Sarah himself, and felt that Vincent stood between him and Sarah.
We see that Luke had gone after Sarah the night she almost told Vincent's wife about the affair. He told her that Vincent was using her and not worth it, and that he could treat her better. She rebuffs him, saying she felt nothing for Luke. Hurt, Luke turns around to find that his wife saw him talking to Sarah. When Sarah returned to visit Vincent at the loft, Luke showed up and drugged Sarah, trying to kill her — out of "love" — with an insulin overdose. He then staged the suicide with the pills, champagne bottle, and suicide note. Chris then tells him that Vincent is being charged with murder as Sarah hadn't been dead when they left her with Philip. Luke then states that technically it was Philip who killed Sarah and that he will clean the situation up. When Chris says no more cleaning up, Luke pulls out a kitchen knife and threatens him. Sirens can be heard and Chris says he called the police, told them everything and that it is over. He and Luke struggle, and he gets the knife from Luke. Luke tells Chris to tell Ellie and their kids that he's sorry; he then jumps from the loft's balcony, killing himself.
Six months later, Mimi and Marty are reconciled, Philip is facing trial for manslaughter, and Chris is divorced, sharing custody of his kids. He runs into Ann after leaving a bar, and she asks if he needs the loft key, that he had given her for them to meet up. Chris mentions the key would not work as Vincent now lives at the loft, since it was the only thing his wife left him with from their divorce. Ann asks if Chris would like to join her for a drink sometime.

Tags: intrigue, revenge, mystery, murder, plot twist

Review:
Highly recommended Belgian movie Loft (2008), proved to be a very engaging cinematic fare about five married men renting a state-of-the-art loft apartment as a playground for their extramarital affairs and a meeting point for encounters with their mistresses, one of them, eventually, becoming an object of a crime scene, so the initial story about five "allies", plotting together, united around their common gains and benefits, evolves into exciting whodunit puzzle about five "enemies" scheming against each other, divided by their individual excuses and vindication, a group of supposed-to-be friends now going through self-exposing, eye-opening exercise, with a number of revealing-concealing, (un)intentionally deceiving, mystery building flash-backs, leading to a numerous clever twists and turns..
The movie takes a while to pick up steam but soon enough the director takes us on exactly the kind of roller-coaster ride we want out of a whodunit thriller.
Without losing pace, we manage to really get to know the pawns in our chess game, and as each one's motivations start to sink in, even the most unlikely become suspect.We see here assembled a who's who of Belgian stars, the dream team cast, even the smaller roles are given to top class actors (Jan Decleir).
The film's lighter on it's feet than Van Looy's previous, we (on first sight) get to deal with far less tortured souls, which makes some room for humorous intervals, I fear a lot of these will get lost in translation.As in all stories, but even more so in plot-driven thrillers, the end's the most important part.
It stings your interest, it bites your brainwaves and in a completely natural way it wakes up the hidden private detective in the spectators mind.You're no longer watching the movie, you are in it yourself."Loft" is a well build-up whodunit-flick, both worth your money & your time..
five men share a loft where they meet their fancy women (read mistresses), they all have different personalities and that's a lot to take in a movie, but they are so well pictured and so well drawn in the script(Bart De Pauw) that they all become our friends sooner or later.
Then include the wives and the mistresses, it's a real challenge to think who DID it.Apart from that and without giving out any clues, it's so well acted, and the LOFT where most of the scenes are shot feels like a tremendous dangerous being.
The LOFT has an extra role in this movie, believe me.This movie, as a good friend told me, is not "The Usual Suspects" but it's close...
I thought about this a lot and then I think of course it is not the Usual Suspects, nobody wants a remake of that movie.Loft is different but you will like the characters, not one second bores you except maybe the knife combat which takes a bit too long.I especially enjoyed the Düsseldorf bar and the Casino scene.
Great cinematography.For people who enjoyed this I recommend the movie "Shades" with Mickey Rourke, I preferred this one a lot more than The Alzheimer Affair.
Although 'Loft's purely Belgian outlook and atmosphere may not appeal too much to Americans, one should not be deceived by this.When looking through, it soon becomes clear that 'Loft' is a very good film.
'Loft's picturing is adequate at least, too, supporting its plot rightly by creating a tense mood.Also pretty characteristic for this film is its very Belgian pace.
Relaxed and unhurried, it allows you a fair amount of time to follow all its twists & turns.The 100% Belgian 'Loft' no doubt will rank among the great films from the Low Countries.
Well, this is my first comment, and no other movie made me write one, although i've seen a lot, believe me.Good story, maybe a little bit over the top, but then again, you go to the movies to be surprised.
I thought it was the only part where the script failed in the sense that it dropped the pace of the movie a little bit.Overall, very well done.
The direction is great, the story is gripping, every little piece fits into the other, making this movie into a masterpiece.For me that is, the tension that is built holds up from the very start until the end.
Look out for it, if you like intelligent and tension filled thrillers that keep you guessing until the end ....
I guess it's only a matter of months before Hollywood will start a remake of this movie, which -if properly filmed- WILL be world wide hit.There's been a lot comparing with "The Usual Suspects", and I can get the point: the interrogation filled with flashbacks, the witty and clever plot and the unexpected end, when you believe all was solved.
Simply, Loft stands on its own and apart from what I wrote above, has little to do with "The Usual Suspects".
Loft, yet another masterpiece sets its roots in Flemish movie history.10 thumbs up for brilliant directing from Erik Van Looy, who proves himself once more as one of Belgians greatest directors!
Overall it's a lot better than Erik Van Looy's previous movie : 'De Zaak Alzheimer' although here you don't have the acting one man show that 'Jan Decleir' gave in that one.Matthias Schoenaerts and Bruno Vanden Broucke show their talent in this one, as does Filip Peeters.If go for International standards, this is still one of the better movies that you can go see in the theater.
Sometimes the acting is a bit off, but that negligible...Overall, this is a great a movie and hope it will make the trip abroad to the states or what not, so it can be acknowledged by everyone !!Best regards,Raf. Love is  Sharing a loft with friends so your wife can't find out you're unfaithful..
I don't really have a valid excuse for waiting so long (perhaps didn't want to jump into the momentarily hype?) but I'm glad to announce that "Loft" is a solid and suspenseful thriller that can easily compete with the large foreign offer of similar movies.
The film deals with typical Hollywood themes (adultery, murder, conspiracy theories) and implements the contemporary popular narrative structure of flashbacks and messed up continuity, but luckily enough the atmosphere and character drawings remain old-fashioned Flemish.
Through a series of flashbacks and deeper character elaborations, the script illustrates that the five perhaps aren't the loyal and close friends than they might think and that their lies, unfaithfulness and deception will finally bring them down.
I really enjoyed the film, it is the best Belgian movie I've ever seen.
I recommend every grown-up who likes thrillers to watch LOFT..
In Flanders, there has been such a huge hype about this movie that it's almost impossible for director Erik Van Looy to live up to the expectations.
If we are to believe everything that has been told about it, this is supposed to be the best movie ever made in Flanders, and a Hollywood remake would only be a matter of time.Let's face it: Loft is a run-of-the-mill thriller.
The whodunit-story is OK, but twists and turns just a little bit too much for my taste.
The characters are flat - we don't know why they do what they do.The movie lacks a little bit extra that could have made it really good.
And now one year later, I have finally seen this Belgian movie entitled "Loft." I do not know any of the cast, but she mentioned that these are some of Belgium's greatest actors, and that was enough for me."Loft" tells the story of five male friends who each have a key to plush penthouse loft in a snazzy apartment complex.
This is the same loft we see in American movies like "Sliver" or "Basic Instinct".
The plot could have already ended neatly, but still he decided to push for another one, making matters too convoluted.Overall, this movie is good to watch, exciting and tense as it went along.
But do not try to analyze too much watching it, as this would cause you to discover a lot of questions about the plot and its various holes, especially when it comes to the sequence of events..
the story keeps you curious till the near ending that's tho (in my opinion )when the movie goes too far.
for the rest it's a very entertaining movie indeed a shame that Dutch isn't a world language else this one would have been a big global success whit-out a doubt.i truly recommend even for those of you who don't understand a word of dutch (like 99,97% of the world population :p ) but it is truly a magnificent film.
Full of twists & turns from start to finish, Loft concerns a group of 5 friends, all of them married, who share the ownership of a secret loft together where they meet their mistresses.
And thus begins the blame game where each person begins suspecting the other one of committing the crime & collectively try to solve the mystery before police come knocking at the door.Directed by Erik Van Looy, the film smartly intertwines present with flashbacks to give viewers the backstory of each of its characters & create fresh doubts in their minds about who could be the real suspect among these.
The writing is equally good too as each character is presented in a grey shade, thus making it difficult for the viewers to converge on a single suspect until the film reveals all on its own.
The acting is quite convincing by its ensemble cast, cinematography makes great use of lighting, editing is brilliantly carried out & the music is a big plus here.There is no denying that viewers will try to solve this mysterious puzzle as soon as the film begins since no time is wasted in taking a linear approach and yet, the film will be able to surprise most of them not once but multiple times.
On an overall scale, Loft is an amazing mystery thriller that is cleverly plotted, has an atmosphere of tension & suspicion from the very beginning, is perplexing but never confusing to the extent that makes the viewers reject it outright & didn't put a foot wrong until the film's third act, which is the only part that disappointed me though not majorly & will even work for most.Out of the very few Belgian films that I've seen so far, this one is arguably my new favorite as of now.
And I've no problem in recommending this film to anyone for it has the charged tension of a Hitchcock thriller & really deserves a wider audience.
Dark mystery films with a lot of twist.
"The Loft" follows the same pattern and does so successfully.The themes of the film are friendship, love and cheating in a twisted plot that repeatedly keeps the spectators on their toes.
Matthias Schoenaerts is perfect as a simple brute, a role which he has to some extent repeated in other films like "Bullhead" and "Rust and Bone"."The Loft" is shot beautifully with lots of different lenses, crane cameras and lighted in a way that underlines the tension and the feelings of the actors.I had a good time watching this one and I believe you will too..
Keeps the viewer guessing with numerous twists and turns - one too many but really that's what adds more WTF moments which is awesome to watch.I didn't go into this one with high expectations but for a late night ''can't sleep so I'm watching a movie on my laptop with headphones and a blanket'' it was pretty darn bearable.Recommended for thriller addicts..
The Loft is one of the best Belgium movies ever.
I loved every second of it.After Luc finds the body of a mysterious girl in his loft which he share with his four friends, chris, vincent, Filip and Marnix.
Because if this comes out not only their freedom is in jeopardy but also their marriages.It's an amazing whodunit story, and I still love watching the movie again..
Few of the characters are really likable; the men are sexist bastards save for a repressed slob, the women in the plot get little screen time and spend that being sex objects or sharp-tongued hags of wives.In short, the movie piles on the clichés, and so it's exhaustive location scouting delivers the death-stroke.
Earlier that same day, five friends sharing a loft apartment for their extramarital conquests discover the bloodstained body of a woman sprawled across the bed where the affairs take place.
When architect Vincent Stevens hands his four friends the keys to the sky parlor through which they may indulge themselves in secret, it is here that the unraveling truly begins and we discover whose declarations end at posturing bravado and who truly believes that adultery is an honest acceptance of male desires.All of which give 'Loft' its light and shade.
If redemption is on the cards, 'Loft' is not concerned with winning the audience over to their side and in the end, this is my biggest problem with it – not a desire for some tired, shoehorned play for morality before the end credits as Hollywood typically insists so as to keep the audience's fantasy of human virtue intact, but simply the fact that in human drama, a cast of unlikable characters is the true act of murder for the audience, their empathy dead and buried for the duration of a film that demands two hours of attention.Doubtless, there are many fans of the modern crime thriller who revel in the self-destructive anti-hero, seeing him or her as the truly honest figure driven to be nothing more than earnestly human in an uncompromising world.
It feels tacked on as a last desperate twist, yet given what carnal descent into hell writer Bart de Pauw has presented beforehand, better to let the film remain in that melancholy storm of Dante's second circle where it can at least stand with its own self-prescribed dignity.Of director Erik Van Looy, I would praise his creation of a suitably dark and forebodingly-lit story.
In amidst this gallery of the fallen stands the film itself, aiming high in terms of plot twist and drama, but sinking slowly through the ground for failing to engage the viewer on the most fundamental level: empathy..
One of the first scenes bring to mind the opening sequence of 'Inside Man', a man dead on his feet grilled by two unrelenting policemen, he stammers a fogy story, a story that makes less and less sense with each new sentence uttered; the intrigues spreads through the audience, let the games begin!The gorgeous stylized look captured my attention immediately, cinematographically 'Loft' without a doubt means a new high for production values in Belgian cinema.
I personally prefer this more minimalistic (less locations, less movement in the scenes), more plot-driven film over Van Looy's previous.
Anyone of this group could have committed the crime, yet nothing is clear in the narrative until the surprise ending.Eric Von Looy, the director of "Loft" has explored the kind of people at the center of the film before with his "Yuppies".
We were lucky to have found a copy of this Belgian film, but we don't think it had a commercial run that we know of.The director gets great acting from all the principals, Koen De Bouw, Filip Peeters, Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruno Vanden Broucken, and Koen De Graeve are all excellent as the friends that share the loft.
Loft is recommended for all lovers of murder mysteries.
Here, Each character can have several motives, but not necessarily those you may think the film will have you in its grip the whole time as you will keep guessing, and of course most of your guesses won't come true!As in many other murder mysteries, one of the themes here is that NO ONE can be trusted.
if I am not mistaken he's the one that says: "now we must look for someone to take to the loft!"the film has a well-developed plot.
with all those short cuts, The film moves so fast that at some points, you may not even have the time to think about the plot itself!!
Now that I think about it, I understand how those friends lost trust in each other, but I don't know why they trusted each other in the first place!And I should also admit that the ending did not satisfy me as it did not match the dynamic plot of the film But overall, I enjoyed the film and look forward to learning more about Belgian cinema.
Let me first start with the look of it all, the short cuts make this film try to be more of an action flick which is not helpful because it tries to be a thriller.
A very moral tale about friends sharing an apartment for sexual adventures; that one day find out a dead woman body in the bed and try to find out who did it.Obviously was one of them and in a things has an unexpected twist in the third act (and another one in the fourth ); but the first one is absurd and the second even worse.
To be sincere; the first half of the movie; is intriguing; but as things start to clarify, events seems forced and without any reasonable logic.In brief; do not lose your time with this.
The movie starts off on a high note in an attempt to take a hold of viewer attention, which it does.
I don't know whether it's to keep integrity of the story, or out of respect to the screenplay,but, the director took a little too much time to establish a character attributes.
At the same time took a great detail in not to give out the main crucial point of the plot.The motive of Luc Seynaeve, and eventual involvement of others is a little too thin.
Apart from two or three leaky sub plots from the respective character's, and the run time, it's a decent enough movie.
Not one you will remember when you think of Best Mystery movies.