The fact that Eric Stonestreet showed up at Taylor Swift’s wedding earlier this month was wild enough, but if you really want a shock to your system, watch The Loft.
For Modern Family fans accustomed to seeing the actor as the cuddly, theatrical Cam Tucker, Stonestreet’s performance in this 2014 thriller is a jarring pivot.
The Loft follows five married men who share ownership of a sleek, ultra-modern penthouse to conduct their extramarital affairs. When they discover the body of a murdered woman chained to the bed, the film turns into a paranoid whodunit where everyone is a suspect.
Think The Usual Suspects meets Presumed Innocent, with a splash of Sliver thrown in for good measure. While the movie was critically panned upon release, looking back a decade later, there’s plenty here to make it an excellent choice for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Let’s start with the big drawcard: Stonestreet. He plays Marty Landry, a crass, heavy-drinking serial philanderer who stands as the absolute antithesis of the joyful and loyal Cam. Marty isn’t just a departure from his Modern Family persona; he’s arguably the film’s sleaziest character. Seeing Stonestreet trade sweet family dynamics for cocaine-fuelled benders and dark, cynical monologues about infidelity is a masterclass in typecasting defiance.
Responding to criticism from Modern Family fans who were sad the actor wasn’t more like Cam, Stonestreet said in a 2011 interview: “People are disappointed sometimes, but I hope they understand that I’m an actor playing a character. They love the character and they might like me, too, if they give me a chance.”
Downplaying his walk on the dark side as a complete change of pace, Stonestreet pointed to his past roles on NCIS and Nip/Tuck, where he frequently played villains.
“The year before Modern Family, I think I killed three people on TV,” Stonestreet joked.
Another major talking point in this underappreciated movie is the fact that it’s almost a shot-for-shot remake of the hit 2008 Flemish movie Loft. Both films were helmed by Belgian director Erik Van Looy, who even brought along actor Matthias Schoenaerts to reprise his key role as the volatile Philip Williams.
“I’d rather make a good movie twice than a mediocre movie once,” Van Looy told Variety magazine of his decision to remake his own hit for international audiences.
Watching an actor play the exact same role twice, years apart and in two different languages, is a meta-layer we rarely see in cinema.
The most obvious parallel examples are Melissa George’s scene-stealing performances in the Aussie drama The Slap and its US adaptation, or David Tennant pulling double-duty in Broadchurch and its US remake, Gracepoint (which is also available on Tubi).
Joining Stonestreet to round out the quintet of cheating suspects is a stellar line-up of talent. Karl Urban (now known best for playing Billy Butcher in The Boys) serves as the conflicted moral centre; James Marsden (fresh from X-Men and just before Westworld) plays the golden boy with a dark streak; and Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) plays perfectly to his strengths as the watchful, quiet introvert.
The Loft is also notable for featuring two well-known Aussies. Rachael Taylor plays a sex worker deeply entangled with Marsden’s character, while Isabel Lucas appears in crucial flashbacks as the mysterious woman whose death serves as the central mystery of the movie.
Most modern thrillers try to give the audience a hero – someone to root for, or at least someone who seems vaguely redeemable. The Loft boldly refuses to do this. Every member of the core group is varying shades of terrible.
The film functions as a dark autopsy of toxic male ego, entitlement and fragile brotherhood. The real surprise isn’t just in the plot twists, but in how deeply uncomfortable the film is willing to make its audience feel.