Se7en (1995)

Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.

Director:

David Fincher

Writer:

Andrew Kevin Walker

Stars:

Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey

Top Rated Movies #22 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 25 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Morgan Freeman	...	Somerset
Andrew Kevin Walker	...	Dead Man at 1st Crime Scene (as Andy Walker)
Kevin Spacey	...	John Doe
Daniel Zacapa	...	Detective Taylor
Brad Pitt	...	Mills
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Tracy
John Cassini	...	Officer Davis
Bob Mack	...	Gluttony Victim
Peter Crombie	...	Dr. O'Neill
Reg E. Cathey	...	Dr. Santiago
R. Lee Ermey	...	Police Captain
George Christy	...	Workman at Door of Somerset's Office
Endre Hules	...	Cab Driver
Hawthorne James	...	George the Night Guard at the Library
William Davidson	...	First Guard at the Library (as Roscoe Davidson)

Storyline

A film about two homicide detectives' (Morgan Freeman and (Brad Pitt desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins. The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopathic "John Doe" (Kevin Spacey) sermonizes to Detectives Somerset and Mills -- one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderer's terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured but jaded Somerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killer's modus operandi while the bright but green and impulsive Detective Mills (Pitt) scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer...

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Plot Keywords:

detective | serial killer | seven deadly sins | police partner | human monster | 

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Taglines:

Earnest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I believe the second part.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for grisly afterviews of horrific and bizarre killings, and for strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Seven

Filming Locations:

Pacific Electric Building, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$33,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£11,434,343 (UK) (19 January 1996)

Gross:

$100,125,340 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cecchi Gori Pictures, Juno Pix, New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An edited-out sequence near the beginning had Somerset looking over the country home he's planning on moving into. He uses his switchblade to cut loose a rose on a fragment of silk wallpaper and carries it with him throughout the movie. The rose falls out of his jacket as he is taking off his gun before eating with the Mills family. (This touch was edited out, too. Both sequences are in the supplementary section of the Criterion laserdisc.) The rose is briefly visible in the opening scene, sitting atop a handkerchief on Somerset's dresser.

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Goofs

While it is raining on the car, the people on the street are not using umbrellas or other devices to shield themselves from rain.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Detective Taylor: Neighbors heard them screaming at each other, like for two hours, and it was nothing new. Then they heard the gun go off, both barrels. Crime of passion.
William Somerset: Yeah, just look at all the passion on that wall.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are done over broken, blurred images of John Doe removing the skin from his fingertips and sewing it into his journals.

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Connections

Spoofed in Screen Wars: Episode #2.1 (2007)

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Soundtracks

In the Beginning
Written by Dorcas Cochran, Kay Twomey, Ben Weisman, and Fred Wise
Performed by The Statler Brothers
Courtesy of Mercury Records Nashville, A Division of PolyGram

User Reviews

Superbly crafted drama delves into darkest corners of the psyche

David Fincher's bleak, relentless, and ultimately terrifying crime thriller Seven transcends other films of the genre with incredible plotting (the sort Hitchcock might employ were he alive and making films in the 1990s) and scalding intelligence. With only a small handful of minor flaws -- the overly familiar retiring cop/young cop pairing; the awful "I'm taking you off the case!" cliche seemingly required by the genre; one giant lapse in logic in the downward spiral toward the conclusion that cannot be revealed without ruining the script's gruesome surprise -- Seven typically keeps its viewers imprisoned in their seats with a combination of morbid fascination and abject fear. Despite attempts by studio executives to alter Andrew Kevin Walker's ending, the filmmaking team prevailed and audiences experienced that rare treat of mainstream cinema: an uncompromising vision.