One year ago, Vincent Stevens (Karl Urban) rented a sleek, upscale loft in downtown Los Angeles and gave keys out to closest friends Chris Vanowen (James Marsden), Luke Seacord (Wentworth Miller), Marty Landry (Eric Stonestreet) and Philip Trauner (Matthias Schoenaerts). All five were married, which made this secret place all the more tempting to steal away to with mistresses and one-night stands. Now, a mystery blonde has been found dead in the apartment, handcuffed to the bed with her wrist slit open. The security alarm never went off, which means that one of them must have used their key and is responsible for the crime. As Detective Huggins (Kristin Lehman) and Detective Cohagan (Robert Wisdom) interview the men, the sordid twelve months prior gradually come into focus.
"The Loft" is distasteful and misanthropic, littered with characters one would never want to know in his or her own life. The English-language debut of Belgian director Erik Van Looy—an American remake of his own 2008 thriller "Loft"—the film probably didn't warrant a redux, but its thematic ugliness is countered by how shrewdly it is made. Cast in one light, it is a sudsy soap opera with a particularly pessimistic view of human relationships and the nonexistent sanctity of marriage. Set up as a mystery that unfolds in flashback-laden layers, the story leads to a series of twists that are unpredictable, but not terribly compelling. In order for the viewer to be involved on a deeper level, there has to be someone on the screen to latch onto and care about, but good luck finding that sympathetic beacon among these five cheating, lying dogs. Illuminated from a different angle, however, the picture is polished and well-shot by cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis, all sharp corners and shiny surfaces amidst ultra-modern decor and architecture. As composer John Frizzell's (2013's "Texas Chainsaw") intoxicating score keeps the pacing at attention, there are occasions when it is easy to forget how shallow its plot is, a house of cards from which there is little to take away.
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
