There are seven deadly sins, Captain. Gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy. Seven... You can expect five more of these.
—William Somerset
Se7en (or Seven) is a 1995 American crime/horror/thriller film, directed by David Fincher of Fight Club fame. It stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as homicide detectives William Somerset and David Mills.Somerset is about to retire and be replaced by Mills in the department, but the two get caught up in a string of horrible murders, each inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins and all caused by one intelligent and elusive Serial Killer. A distinctive dark atmosphere and a skillful balance of Gory Discretion Shots ends up creating a far more disturbing product than the Gorn films that try and emulate it.Released to both critical acclaim and commercial success, and often ranked with The Silence Of The Lambs and Psycho as the pinnacle of serial killer fiction.
It provides examples of the following:
Admiring the Abomination: While not quite to the level of admiration, Somerset repeatedly urges Mills not to underestimate John Doe and instead to treat him with the respect he deserves.
Somerset: It's dismissive to call him a lunatic. Don't make that mistake.... This guy's methodical, exacting and worst of all, patient.
Amoral Attorney: The Greed victim was a prominent lawyer named Eli Gould. Doe's own lawyer also qualifies: when Mills calls him out on it he offers a rather weak rationalization.
And I Must Scream: Sloth. He is kept in his flat, alive, for one year, immobilized, occasionally given antibiotics so as not to die from his bedsores. By the time he's saved, his mind no longer functions.
Arc Number: Take a wild guess. In addition to the seven deadly sins, the main plot of the film takes place over seven days (with the days appearing as titles onscreen), Somerset arrives for supper at Mills's flat at seven o'clock and the box containing Tracy's head is delivered at seven o'clock.
Artistic License - Gun Safety: Mills is seen failing to observe proper trigger discipline in several instances, such as the chase scene with John Doe. Justified in this instance, as it's used to establish that he is an impulsive and hotheaded Cowboy Cop in contrast to the more restrained Somerset (see also their conversation about firing their guns on their way to the Sloth victim).
Asshole Victim: According to the villain. His victims are chosen based on what he considers to be their (unforgivably) negative traits, although their "sins" range from being morbidly obese to being a drug-dealing pederast. The movie does not contain any indication that the victims for gluttony, lust, and pride were bad people in any way, unless you take the villain's "From a Certain Point of View" for gospel — or share his hatred of lawyers, obese people, sex-workers, and vain women.
Asspull: Somerset just happens to know a guy from the FBI that is in his debt for no discernable reason. Thanks to the info they get from him, they are able to instantly find John Doe's apartment and even John Doe himself when he comes home.
Balloon Belly: Gluttony is forced to eat at gunpoint until he can't take it anymore. Then the killer kicks him and his stomach ruptures.
Beauty Equals Goodness: A good part of John Doe's self justification for the Gluttony murder. And yet he goes the opposite route with the Pride murder.
Big "NO!": Mills after he discovers that his wife is dead.
Black and White Insanity: John Doe, arguably. The film, however, does go out of its way to point out that John Doe isn't completely insane - which is in some ways even more frightening than if he was.
Buddy Cop Show: According to Word Of God, Fincher was initially turned off by the screenplay because it sounded too much like a generic buddy cop movie. Despite the superficial trappings (down to the Salt and Pepper pairing) it doesn't really have a huge amount in common with the trope as it usually stands, however.
Somerset: Well, in any major city, minding your own business is a science. First thing they teach women in rape prevention is never cry for help. Always yell "fire." Nobody answers to "help." You holler "fire," they come running.
Subverted in one instance. When the photographer shows up at one of the crime scenes, one might be forgiven for thinking it's just a quick, funny cameo by Kevin Spacey (assuming one even recognized him). Turns out he's the villain.
Christianity is Catholic: Pointedly averted. John Doe's crimes are influenced by a plurality of different religious sources, and he is never stated to belong to any particular denomination (although he is definitely Christian). Part of what leads the police to suspect that the Sloth victim may be the killer is that he had an extremely strict Southern Baptist upbringing.
Click Hello: John Doe does this to Mills after the chase.
Cluster F-Bomb/Sir Swears-a-Lot: Along with his hotheaded, impulsive nature, Mills ("M-I-L-L-S, fuck off!") swears like a sailor.
Fucking Dante! Goddamn poetry-writing faggot, piece of shit! Fucker!
Cold-Blooded Torture: Several of Doe's victims (Gluttony and Greed specifically).
Cowboy Cop: Mills is certainly trying to be this. Deconstructed by the end: his aggression and impulsiveness leads to him playing straight into the villain's hands and ruining his life in the process.
Doing It for the Art: All of the books in John Doe's apartment? They're all real. One of the special effects companies hired for the film spent two months hand-writing every single one of them. Mostly by one guy who showed exceptional talent at writing journals like a crazy insane sociopath. He even included an authentic suicide note...
Drink Order: Somerset's taste for red wine contrasts pointedly with Mills's preference for Pabst Blue Ribbon, a popular beer among the American working class, evidencing how Somerset is much more cultured and erudite than Mills. Mills doesn't even know to serve wine in a wine glass.
Driven to Suicide: The Pride victim. John Doe cuts off her nose and glues a phone to one hand and sleeping pills to the other, offering her the Sadistic Choice of calling for help (but having to live with her disfigurement) or killing herself. As proof of her vanity, she chooses the latter.
Empathic Environment: It's raining during most of the movie. The rain was meant to symbolize the third level of Hell, as described in Dante's Inferno. The idea is backed up by the numerous references to the work throughout the movie.
Eureka Moment: When Mills mentions that "just because the fucker's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda", Somerset realizes that the FBI is able to track the killer based on his reading habits.
Eye Scream: When asked why he is retiring, Somerset makes a passing reference to a man who was mugged the night before, and after the mugger had taken his wallet, he pointlessly and sadistically stabbed the man in both of his eyes.
Fan Disservice: The morbidly-obese Gluttony victim is naked on the autopsy table.
A blatant rip-off starring Christopher Lambert and Leland Orser (who also played the man forced by John Doe at gunpoint to rape the Lust victim to death)
The name of the Pride victim is written on the label for the bottle of sleeping pills glued to her hand (see No Name Given for more information).
Pausing the film when the photographer shows up at the Sloth victim's apartment reveals that he's played by Kevin Spacey.
A literally subliminal example takes place near the end: Tracy's face flashes onscreen just before Mills shoots John Doe.
Freudian Excuse: Averted in the film; John Doe's actions are not attributed to a past since he never gives one. Played straight in the (non-canonical) comic books.
From Bad to Worse: The entire movie has this continuously, but the last ten minutes deserve special mention. It got a lot worse fast.
Gambit Roulette: John Doe's plan hinges upon: the police finding the Gluttony message behind the fridge, the Sloth victim not being discovered ahead of time, the police finding the message hidden behind the painting in Gould's office, the police being able to connect the fingerprints behind the painting to the Sloth victim, the police finding the Sloth victim on the appropriate day, the package containing Tracy's head arriving at the scene at the right time, somebody actually opening said package and seeing its contents (one of the cops in the helicopter, upon seeing the package, radios for the bomb squad to be brought in - why would this not be Somerset's first assumption?), and convincing Mills to kill John Doe, without anyone intervening. Additionally, practically every murder takes place in a location where someone could have easily interrupted John Doe before completing the murder in question (Somerset notes that John Doe left the scene of the Gluttony murder twice in order to buy more spaghetti sauce, and hand waves no one interrupting the Greed murder with the Bystander Syndrome) - he was extraordinarily lucky that no one did so. Finally, when Somerset and Mills arrive at John Doe's apartment he fires upon them from a distance, and again when they give chase - Somerset and Mills form an integral part of his plan, so he must have been missing on purpose, but he was still lucky that he didn't accidentally hit one of them.
It is possible that he made Somerset and Mills a part of his plan after they almost caught him. Though possibly Mills became a target for Wrath after he accosted Doe pretending to be a press photographer.
Giallo: It isn't one, but the film's visuals seem to be heavily influenced by the genre.
Good Cop/Bad Cop: They never interrogate anyone jointly, but Somerset is very patient and soft-spoken, in contrast to Mills's more aggressive, volatile demeanour. This is particularly evident when they are driving John Doe to the site of the last two victims.
Gorn: Although it's mostly limited to Gory Discretion Shots. Most of the horrors are nigh-unfilmable and left to our imagination.
Greedy Jew: The Greed victim is an amoral Jewish defence attorney.
Green-Eyed Monster: John Doe says he killed Mills's wife out of envy. Of course, given his agenda, he may have exaggerated his envy just for that purpose.
Hannibal Lecture: "It's more comfortable for you to label me insane."
Insanity Defense: Upon turning himself in, John Doe says that if Mills and Somerset accept his deal of escorting him to the location of the last two victims, he will plead guilty to all charges. If, however, they don't accept his deal, he will plead insanity. His lawyer points out that, given the sheer extremity of Doe's crimes, such a plea would have a good chance of succeeding. Somerset then counters that, if they brought him to court, Doe's lawyer threatening to plead insanity would itself be admissible as evidence against Doe (that is, the fact that Doe was mentally acute enough to recognize that pleading insanity might be a good idea would be good evidence that he was, in fact, sane). Doe, of course, freely admits that he doesn't believe he's insane (and Somerset agrees with him, although Mills does not), which isn't to say he and his lawyer wouldn't be able to convince a jury otherwise.
I Reject Your Reality: John Doe, leading to his insane "sinners must be punished" mentality.
I Surrender, Suckers: A variation occurs at the climax. John Doe turns himself in, but only to ensure that his master plan of completing his "work" goes off without a hitch.
Jitter Cam: Used in a handful of scenes, such as when Mills chases Doe through his apartment complex, or when Somerset opens the box, realizes what Doe's plan is and immediately runs over to him and Mills in an effort to prevent his plan from being completed.
Karmic Death: What the killer is aiming for, at least in theory.
Doe: And after him I took the lawyer, and both of you must have secretly thanking me for that one. This is a man who dedicated his life to making money by lying, with every breath that he could muster to keeping murderers and rapists on the streets—
Mills: "Murderers." Doe: A woman— Mills: "Murderers", John. Like yourse— Doe:A WOMAN! So ugly on the inside...
The actor who played the Sloth victim weighed 96 pounds at his audition, and the director joked that he could have the part if he dropped another ten. Much to the director's surprise—and horror—he dropped six.
The man who was forced by John Doe at gunpoint to rape the Lust victim to death is disturbed to the point of hyperventilating; the actor sat himself in a corner, breathing very quickly in order to induce hyperventilation in himself to keep his performance authentic.
Somerset (reading one of John Doe's journals): "What sick ridiculous puppets we are and what gross little stage we dance on. What fun we have dancing and fucking. Not a care in the world. Not knowing that we are nothing. We are not what was intended."
Doe: Don't ask me to pity those people. I don't mourn them any more than I do the thousands that died at Sodom and Gomorrah. Somerset: Is that to say, John, that what you were doing was God's good work? [Beat] Doe: The Lord works in mysterious ways.
The Lust and Gluttony victims also go unnamed. The Pride victim's name is never spoken aloud but her name can be read on the label for the sleeping pills glued to her hand (it's possible, however, that these pills weren't actually prescribed for her and were furnished by John Doe himself).
Not So Different: Somerset and John Doe. Both of them are intelligent, well-educated and cultured, and are both intimately aware of just how much of a Crapsack World they live in. Where they differ is in their respective approaches to trying to improve the world.
Poetic Serial Killer: John Doe chooses victims he views as guilty of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, then kills them in a manner that he thinks punishes the particular sin of which each is guilty.
Police Are Useless: Ultimately, the police are entirely unsuccessful in stopping John Doe's plan or even hindering it. Lampshaded by Somerset.
Prequel: Some surprisingly good comics by Zenescope Entertainment. They center on John and the victims.
Real-Life Relative: Morgan Freeman's son Alonso has a small cameo as the fingerprint technician.
Red Herring: Somerset's knife-throwing practice. It's seen several times in the movie, but never given practical application.
Though it should be noted that in the actual movie script, Somerset did use his knife-throwing skill to try to stop Mills from shooting John Doe.
Also possibly the dog carcass.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Mills and Somerset. The Blue is a fatherly mentor trying to harden the Red's heart to the harsh realities of life, and the young and emotional Red loses EVERYTHING to John Doe.
Sadistic Choice: The beautiful woman gets this: death or disfigurement. Many of the other victims are similarly forced to do horrible things at gunpoint.
Serial Killer: John Doe is an extremely disturbing example.
Seven Deadly Sins: The central theme of Doe's choices of victims and how he "punishes" them.
Shame If Something Happened: A variant with John Doe talking about Mills's wife; he's not actually threatening him, but describing the things he's already done.
Shown Their Work: The Wrath victim. In Dante's time killing a man's wife and children was considered equal to taking his life and was sometimes used on men condemned to death. John Doe refers to this when he tells Mills "whatever life I will allow you to have". Thus David Mills is the wrath victim even though he wasn't the one killed.
Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred: Doe's manipulation of Mills to kill him, which would avenge his wife's murder but also fulfill the last of Doe's plan by making Mills and Doe the Wrath and Envy "punishments", respectively.
Stuffed into the Fridge: Mills' wife Tracy. We know Doe beheaded her... from his comments before the "souvenir" line, he may have done a lot more than that.
Unbuilt Trope: The film helped to popularize the archetypal 90s and 2000s Psychological Thriller/serial killer movie (see Follow the Leader above), but goes out of its way to avert or subvert many of the tropes the genre would become associated with: the murders are not shown in detail and given very little screen time, there is little blood and gore, the killer is not given a Freudian Excuse or much characterization and The Bad Guy Wins.
Villains Act, Heroes React: Very much so. It's a Police Procedural where the cops never come close to catching the villain and he ultimately gives himself up, which is of course all part of his plan.
Vomiting Cop: One of the SWAT team members is about to throw up when they find Victor's (the Sloth victim) decayed corpse.
Where The Hell Is Springfield: The name of the city is never specified. Tracy at one point mentions that she and David used to live "upstate", presumably referring to upstate New York, and screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker said that the screenplay was heavily inspired by his time spent in New York, but that's about it.
In the novelization, Mills and his wife lived in a town named Springfield (probably Springfield, New York) before they moved to the city.
Wicked Cultured: John Doe. He uses the works of William Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, Dante, the Marquis de Sade and St. Thomas Aquinas, among others, as inspirations for his crimes.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: Mills, at least in Somerset's opinion. He most definitely isn't by the end of the film.
Working The Same Case: Happens very early on when Somerset has been assigned to the Gluttony murder and Mills to the Greed. The discovery of the word "Gluttony" written in grease behind the Gluttony victim's fridge identifies the two murders as the work of the same killer.
Wretched Hive: The massive unnamed city where it takes place is a rainswept hell of apathy and suffering. Writer Andrew Kevin Walker describes the script as his "love letter to New York."
Written-In Infirmity: After Brad Pitt severed a tendon in his hand, scenes were added to show why his character was wearing a cast.
Xanatos Speed Chess: John Doe didn't anticipate Somerset and Mills discovering where he lived, which necessitated him stepping up his schedule.
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