''Loft'' is a 2008 Belgian

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

directed by Erik Van Looy and written by Bart De Pauw, starring an ensemble cast of Flemish actors, led by Koen De Bouw, Filip Peeters, Bruno Vanden Broucke,

Matthias Schoenaerts Matthias Schoenaerts ( , ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in ''Daens (film), Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his rol ...

and Koen De Graeve.

Plot

Five married men share ownership of an upmarket

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

, which they use to discreetly meet their respective mistresses. When the body of a

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

ed woman is found in that loft, the men begin to suspect each other of having committed the gruesome

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

, as they are the only ones with keys to the premises. Through flashbacks, which are intertwined by scenes from the present, the story is unravelled.

Cast

* Koen De Bouw as Chris Van Outryve * Filip Peeters as Vincent Stevens *

as Filip Willems * as Luc Seynaeve * Koen De Graeve as Marnix Laureys * Veerle Baetens as Ann Marai * as Barbara Stevens * as Ellen Van Outryve * as Vicky Willems * Wine Dierickx as Elsie Seynaeve * Marie Vinck as Sarah Delporte * Jan Decleir as Ludwig Tyberghein

Production

Portions of the film were shot in

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

in January 2008. The building where the loft is situated is in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, next to the river

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

. A teaser trailer was released in May 2008.

Reception

By 19 February 2009, ''Loft'' was the most successful Flemish film ever at the box office with at the time 1,082,480 admissions, passing the previous record holder, ''

Koko Flanel ''Koko Flanel'' is a Belgium, Belgian comedy movie directed by Stijn Coninx starring Urbanus, Bea Van der Maat, Willeke van Ammelrooy, and Ann Petersen. The movie was released in 1990 and was until 18 February 2009 the most successful Flanders, ...

'' (1990).

Remakes

A Dutch remake of the same name was released in 2010, directed by Antoinette Beumer. In 2011, Van Looy himself began production on a Belgian-American remake. '' The Loft'' was completed in 2014 and stars Karl Urban, James Marsden, Wentworth Miller, Eric Stonestreet and Schoenaerts reprising his role from the original film. ''The Loft'' was released theatrically on 30 January 2015. In 2021, Netflix India announced an untitled Hindi remake of ''Loft'' directed by the director-duo Abbas Mustan, starring

Sharman Joshi Sharman Joshi (born 28 April 1979) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi films. Joshi is a recipient of several awards including an IIFA Award and nominations for two Filmfare Awards. Joshi began his career with supporting parts in ...

Arjun Rampal Arjun Rampal (born 26 November 1972) is an Indian actor and model who mainly works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film ''Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and has since gone on to Arjun Rampal filmography, act in ...

and

Bobby Deol Vijay Singh Deol (born 27 January 1969), better known by his screen name Bobby Deol, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. A member of the List of Hindi film families#Deol family, Deol family, he is the younger son of actor Dha ...

. The film, later titled ''Penthouse'', was ultimately shelved.

References

External links

* 2008 films 2008 crime thriller films 2000s Dutch-language films 2000s erotic thriller films 2000s mystery thriller films Belgian crime thriller films Belgian erotic thriller films Belgian mystery thriller films Dutch-language Belgian films Erotic mystery films Films directed by Erik Van Looy Films set in Antwerp Films shot in Antwerp 2000s Belgian films {{erotic-thriller-film-stub