Se7en (1995)

Se7en is not a movie for the faint of heart. It's not the most disturbing movie ever, far from it, but it contains a bit more than it's share of chilling murder scenes. There are two homicide detectives working together in a high crime city. Brad Pitt plays a younger, headstrong, reckless detective. Morgan Freeman plays an older, jaded, tired detective who's seen to much and is retiring in seven days. Both actors do a good job, but Freeman's performance is blatantly superior, as he uses his considerable acting heft to lend belief to his character. Both are helped along by the few supporting characters and overall the incredibly cliched characters manage to become believable.

This film however, does not belong to them. It belongs to the serial killer and his series of murders. The murders are religious and are based upon the seven deadly sins. As you may have guessed, the number seven plays a key role in this movie. Seven days until Freeman's character retires, seven deadly sins, seven crimes, and the entire plot takes place over seven days.

If the movie does one thing very well, it's mixing the grotesque with the mundane. It goes from a family dinner to a shack housing the body of a man who's been decomposing for a year without dying. It then travels back to the library, later to a coffee shop, and then to more gruesome scenes. The point I'm trying to make is that so many films in this genera try very hard to be stylized, showing every bit of the world as a dirty disgusting place. Se7en isn't afraid to be clean. It's a movie that isn't afraid to show that bad things can happen in a world that is very pretty, just as easily as in a world that's dark, dirty, and gritty.

The film is a clear member of the serial killer genera, and acts like it. There are many gruesome murder scenes, and one scene involving a still living man that is much, much worse. I don't want to spoil anything, but Kevin Spacey does a fantastic job playing the serial killer John Doe. He flawlessly pulls off the complete resolve necessary for a person capable of committing these acts. The ending is one of the most chilling moments that I can remember in a movie. Up until the final act, the movie was good, but forgettable. The final scene will keep you from forgetting it for a good long while.

Alex Thor