Seven is an American crime thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It was released in 1995 and stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and John C. McGinley. The plot revolves around the life events of a deductive known as William Somerset. As William is about to retire, he works with a newly transferred partner David Mills. They both team up to stop a serial killer on the loose who aims to complete a series of murders based on the biblical seven deadly sins.
Achievements And Success
Even though Seven was not expected to be a blockbuster hit internationally, it impressed everyone with its immense success by becoming the seventh highest-grossing film of the year. It managed to earn $327.3 million worldwide, which was triple the assigned budget for the film. Due to the violent, mature and explicit content, this film received mixed reviews from the audience and the critics. Regardless of the criticism, Freeman’s performance was applauded and Pitt switched to more serious and dramatic roles exploring his acting skills further after this project. Since then, the narrative around Seven has drastically shifted with viewers calling it a movie ahead of its time. In 2023, it is regarded as the best thriller, crime, and mystery film to be ever made. Apart from that it is considered a very influential film in film making because of its aesthetic, style and design innovation while the film's unsettling twisted ending has been named as one of the best in cinematic history.
Synopsis And Plot
Seven is based on the buddy cop formulae with Freeman as Somerset, a senior cop and Pitt as Mills, the young officer ready to crack his first big case. These two mismatched partners team up to catch John Doe, a killer who strategically plans murders inspired by the Bible’s “seven deadly sins.” He chooses victims who are guilty of these sins and uses that weakness to smartly kill them using a proper method in order to get them closer to death as a form of punishment by God. One of the important scenes of the movie is when Freeman provides a listening ear to Mill’s wife Tracy who is expressing her feelings of worry for her husband. The film depicts that Mills and Tracy’s relationship has strained over time and now that she is pregnant she wishes to raise their kid somewhere else rather than the crime ridden town they live in.
Seven Ending Explained
After Mills and Somerset have figured it out that Doe is targeting his victims on the basis of seven deadly sins and that now only two murders are left, they decide to stop the murderer as soon as they can. Two sins Envy and Wrath have yet to happen but were intercepted when Doe turns himself in, at the police station. His act shocked and confused everyone, especially Mills and Freeman. However, this did come with a catch. Doe threatened to lie about not being mentally insane in court to escape the punishment of his crimes if he is not taken to a specific location. Mills is trying to figure out his intention behind this demand but as his top priority is to make sure the Envy and Wrath victims are alive, he has to follow whatever Doe asks him to do. Freeman and Mills drove Doe to that location. On the way Doe expressed that he is proud of his actions as he was chosen by God to send a message to humanity.He believes that his murders are a reminder that sinning does have consequences and should be taken seriously. After reaching their destination, in the middle of a desert, Freeman expects to find dead bodies but there are none, instead he is handed a mysterious package. When he opens the box, Somerset is horrified. Mills insists on seeing what’s inside but Freeman refuses. Later we find out that it's Tracey’s severed head. Mills is extremely shocked with a range of emotions hitting him. His rage pushes him to an extent that he ends up killing Doe on his own. It is revealed that Doe himself was the envy victim because he envied Mill’s and Tracey’s life, while Mills was the wrath victim as his impulsive decision to kill Doe right on spot was the indication of his wrath.