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 an American crime/drama/horror/thriller film, directed by David Fincher of Fight Club fame and staring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as homicide detectives Somerset and Mills. Somerset is about to retire and be replaced by Mills in the department, but the two get caught up in a string of 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. Often ranked with The Silence of the Lambs and Psycho as the pinnacle of serial killer fiction.
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. HOLY SHIT.
Asshole Victim: According to the villain. His victims are chosen based on what he consider to be their (unforgivably) negative traits. Though their "sins" range from being fat 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, overweight people, sex-workers, and vain women.
Autocannibalism: The Sloth victim bit off and ate his own tongue.
In the Zenescope Graphic Novel, John Doe cuts off his "Semper Fidelis" tattoo with a knife and then eats it.
Death by Disfigurement: Invoked with the Pride victim, who killed herself. John Doe picked a very beautiful and vain woman and disfigured her, presumably to the point that plastic surgery would have been unable to restore her face. He then glued a phone into one hand (so she could call 911), and a bottle of sleeping pills into the other (so she could commit suicide). According to the villain, the woman was so full of pride that she swallowed the pills rather than go through the rest of her life with scars.
Death by Sex: Invoked with the Lust victim. A man was forced at gunpoint to wear a large razor-studded strap-on (strap-over?) with which he killed her by having sex with her.
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.
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.
Executive Meddling: David Fincher didn't want to do the voice-over of Somerset that appears at the end of the film (see Knight in Sour Armor; below), because he thought having a voice-over when there hadn't been one at any other point in the movie would be sloppy. The studio insisted, however, that the film end on a slightly more upbeat note then what was scripted.
And even that's debatable — because it's the sigh of a tired old man who's seen too many horrors, but still keeps going out of what seems more like inertia than any actual belief that he can make anything better.
Fan Disservice: The Gluttony victim. He is naked on the autopsy table.
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.
Gambit Roulette: Some of the murders are performed very impressively in terms of where and how they are discovered.
Giallo: It isn't one, but the film's visuals seem to be heavily influenced by the genre.
Gorn: Although it's mostly limited to Gory Discretion Shots. Most of the horrors are unfilmable and left to our imagination.
Which makes it even more terrifying. As an example, several people told Fincher that they couldn't believe he showed Mills' wife's head in the box. Fincher responded by pointing out that at no point in the movie is this actually shown; the image is all in the audience's mind.
Hannibal Lecture: "It's more comfortable for you to label me insane."
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.
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...
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.
How about John Doe? He only appears in three scenes where he is chased by Mills, taken in a car by Somerset and Mills, and finally, taken to a desert where he is finally killed.
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.
Prequel: Some surprisingly good comics by Zenescope Entertainment. They center on John and the victims.
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: Somerset and Mills. 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 Big Bad and Complete Monster John Doe.
Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer/Not Named in Opening Credits: John Doe is played by Kevin Spacey. He was the one who insisted that he not be associated with the film in any way until it was released. The producers actually wanted him to have top billing. The man is very, very dedicated to his craft.
As a result of this, his name is the very first thing seen during the closing credits; the second line is, "Cast (in order of appearance)."
He also said it worked to his advantage, since that meant he didn't have to appear on talk shows and stuff to promote the movie.
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.
An alternate ending revealed that John Doe did not murder Mills' wife, only substituting a lookalike. Mills then has no justification for killing an unarmed man, and will spend the rest of his life in jail. Somerset decides not to retire, and instead gives his country house to Mills' wife and her unborn baby.
Another alternate ending features a dramatic shootout in a burning, dilapidated church in which Mills dies, and yet another had Somerset killing John Doe in order to save Mills from becoming "Wrath." In the finished film, the foreshadowing that Somerset will have to actually shoot his gun (or use his knife) is kept, but nothing comes out of it with the ending changed.
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.
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.
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