Seven in Heaven is a horror film released on October 5th, 2018 by Universal and Netflix starring Travis Tope and Gary Cole. It was directed by Chris Eigeman. It centers around two teenagers, Jude and June, who discover they have entered a sinister parallel world after both go in a closet for a game of "Seven Minutes in Heaven".
This film provides examples of:
- Ambiguously Evil: Mr. Wallace is rather aggressive towards Jude and June, but ultimately, he proves to the only person they can trust to help them get home. What exactly is up with him is never revealed, but he says earlier on that he's supposed to be helping Jude prepare for the real world, which seems to point to him being Good All Along.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- David's house has two flights of stairs, one in the front and another in the back, which he mentions in the alternate universe. In the end, when Jude and June return home, they go down the front, and Derek, having failed to notice that they've returned, goes up the back stairs to enter the closet to check for them one last time.
- When Mr. Wallace tries stuffing Jude in the trunk of his car, Jude bumps his head on a container of gas. In the climax, they use it to set David's house on fire to keep the mob from following Jude and June into the closet.
- Death Glare: Jude and June are on the receiving end of this by the cops, David and his family, and Mr. Wallace as they enter the closet after some help from Mr. Wallace.
- Deus ex Machina:
- What Mr. Wallace said to the cops to convince them to let Jude and June go into David's parents' closet is unknown, but it works.
- In the "lie or die" universe, the spirit of Jude's dead dad suddenly appears to Jude to tell him how to escape back to the original universe. This is not explained.
- Failed a Spot Check: Derek, not realizing that Jude and June have returned and are descending the other flight of stairs, goes upstairs on a different flight of stairs to investigate the closet for them again, resulting in him getting transported to an alternate universe.
- Guardian Angel: Mr. Wallace is implied to be some sort of protector for Jude and possibly the other children at the high school, as he tells Jude at the beginning that his job is to "prepare him for the real world" due to being the school's guidance counselor. Not to mention that he remains the same in each universe and tries to help Jude and June escape to their home universe, or at least guide them.
- Hell: The "lie or die" universe is said by Mr. Wallace to be made of "everyone's worst thoughts". Given that a lot of it involves death and misery, it's probably something like this. This might also explain why the spirit of Jude's dad appears to Jude to help him escape.
- Here We Go Again!: At the end, Derek enters the closet in search of Jude and June and is transported to the alternate universe, and the evidence left behind implies that Jude will be accused of killing Derek, just like in the alternate universe.
- In the End, You Are on Your Own: After helping Jude and June get access to the alternate David's house so that they can use the closet, Mr. Wallace warns them that this is the last time he can help them and that if they're not out of this situation by the next time he sees them, he can't help them anymore. Subverted, as he ends up helping them escape from the "lie or die" universe later.
- Meaningful Name: "Wallace" means "foreigner" in Welsh, which supports the possibility that Mr. Wallace is of otherworldly origin.
- Not Helping Your Case: Mr. Wallace vaguely answering Jude's questions or not answering at all (like why he hit him in their first meeting in the alternate universe) as well as being rather aggressive causes Jude and June to think that he's against them, leading to them trying to flee from him in subsequent meetings.
- Porn Stash: In David's parents' closet, the kids find a deck of playing cards showing women dressed scantily.
- Red Herring:
- The playing card depicts Jude's mom as a stripper. In the alternate universe, she and his dad get upset that Jude discovered it, and in the "lie or die" universe, Jude's dad tells Jude to ask his mom about it. It turns out that it was a joke she and some of the other neighborhood couples made.
- Statistics and Benford's Law doesn't appear to have anything to do with the story other than have Jude's statistics teacher ask him about it on a grudge in the "lie or die" universe.
- Shout-Out: The statistics teacher says "Hey, Jude", which may be an intentional reference to the Beatles' song.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: At the end, Jude and June return to the home universe, but just to make sure they're in the right place, Jude makes a speech to everyone of him denying the allegations he encountered in the alternate universe, including that "[he] didn't kill Derek." Meanwhile, Derek disappears in the closet and the cop finds a bloody pencil (which was used by the alternate Jude to kill the alternate Derek, so it has their DNA on it) in the closet, so now it looks like Jude may be accused of killing Derek again.
- The Unreveal:
- Why Mr. Wallace seems to the same person across multiple universes and knows so much is never revealed. It's hinted that he may be some sort of Guardian Angel for Jude.
- Why Mr. Wallace punched Jude when they first met in the alternate universe is not explained. Jude asks him this, but he doesn't give an answer, resulting in Jude mistrusting him for a while.
- Why Mr. Wallace drove after Jude and June when they first appeared in the "lie or die" universe is not explained, though it's implied he was trying to guide them to Kent's house, which is on the street where he stops chasing them.
- Why the closet works the way it does is not explained.
- If Jude still loves Nell after having sex with June, which he fails to answer in the "lie or die" game as his answer was "I don't know."
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to the alternate Jude and June is not explained, though it can be assumed that this is the type of dimension-hopping story where the traveler takes their alternate self's place, meaning the alternate Jude and June disappeared once the main Jude and June appeared.
- What If?: The alternate universe is a world where Jude was mentally disturbed from a young age. As a result, Kent became friends with Derek (who is not a bully) instead, Jude's father is still alive, the kids that are invited to David's house are jerkasses, and Jude killed Derek.
