Rent Se7en (1995)

Dark & Unique Serial Killer Film - Se7en review by GI

Se7en is one of the darkest and harrowing serial killer crime films, a study of sin and a police procedural narrative that reads and flows like a horror film. It creates a world that is drenched in wickedness and for the viewer it's a surreal and tense journey to the infamous climax. Set in an unspecified US city that is dingy and crime ridden with imagery very reminiscent of Blade Runner (1982) with its rain sodden, bleak streets and where there is no redeeming features. Ambitious, young and tempestuous Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) arrives at a new precinct to take over in the Homicide squad from thoughtful and wise Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) who has a week before retirement. On his first day Mills and Somerset are sent to investigate a death and soon find that the victim has been murdered by being force fed until his innards have ruptured. This death sparks a chain of gruesome killings and a pattern behind the murders that match the 'seven deadly sins'. This is a very dark tale and the performances, cinematography, sound and the plot combine to create something unique in crime cinema. Only the presence of Mills wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow) brings a ray of sunshine to the world of the film, and Paltrow gives a performance here that is important to the story and often overshadowed by the three male leads which includes Kevin Spacey as the killer. Director David Fincher, a director with a keen eye for detail, managed to modify and renew this sub genre into a new post-modern interpretation whilst maintaining that element of noir that roots the film back into the classical Hollywood period. A remarkable film, compelling, shocking and utterly brilliant.