Se7en: what's in the box?

⚠️There are some expletives in this.⚠️

By Sophia Doshi

This is more of a live commentary. If you don't like these kinds of commentaries, I would kindly redirect you to one of my other entries, of which there are dozens. If you choose to stay, enjoy!

This movie didn't get scary until Victor, the victim of the 'sloth' killing, woke up from the dead. I jumped damn near 5 feet out of my seat. It's pitch black outside while I'm watching this, so that's not helping my case, and the entire theme of the movie is death. 

My favorite part of the movie so far was when the entire might of the police force in the city went to infiltrate apartment 306. The intensity of the scene–the music, the darkness, the lights cutting through the shadows–it all added to the gravity of the scene. It also conveys the desperation of the force to find the killer before he kills again (whoops). 

I love the balance between the Somerset and Mills. Somerset is calm, experienced, and knows where to look and what to look for. Mills is the comedic relief character, the hotheaded one who leads with his heart and follows with his head (barely). Also, the quote " C'mon, he's insane. Look. Right now he's probably dancing around in his grandma's panties, yeah, rubbing himself in peanut butter"? Unexpected but absolutely welcomed in the moment. As well as "Uh huh. Yeah. Excuse me, sir. Are you, by any chance, a serial killer? Okay". Absolutely golden.

The tension that David Fincher creates with the shaky camera's POV and the chase scene between the shooter with no face and Mills is paramount to the movie. I'm quite literally on the edge of my seat–I feel like I'm about to fall out of it. Why is it always raining in this city? And raining so hard?

IT WAS THE PHOTOGRAPHER IN THE STAIRS?

So, this John Doe is a religious fanatic. I wonder if it is set on by his lust for killing. Or lust for the blonde woman they just identified? Oh sh*t. That was not expected. That was insane. John Doe is most definitely not a performance artist. He is also not a nice guy.

The parallels between how Mills and Somerset are reacting to the brothel owner and the male victim are somber and grounding. It just goes to show how crazy this entire case is for both of them.

Pride: likely a celebrity, a young one. I feel bad for her. I would have called for help, too, hun.

So we're just making public appearances now? I wonder what his plan with this is. This is crazy. This reminds me of when the Joker walked right into a bank. 

I knew Tracy would end up dead.  Sh*t. I knew it.  Holy sh*t. "He didn't know." That's insane. This is insane (although predictable, I've seen Criminal Minds) too many times. Yup. He just completed the circle of 7. Sh*t.

The credits going upwards instead of downwards? Genius–it's the climb out of Hell–the path to redemption. 

Overall, this movie had me on the edge of my seat, wanting to vomit, and begging Mills not to kill John. I was so sincerely hoping that he wouldn't pull the trigger, but he did. I suppose that if the ending had gone differently, the title of the movie would be '6ix' instead of Se7en.

Although it was gory and I never wish to see anyone undergo such a thing again, it makes me wonder how far a person in reality, not just in the movies, would go as a serial killer. Would they concoct these disgusting, ingenious plans? Would they have the audacity or the skill to find the spouse of a detective working on their case? Once again, this movie brings me back to an episode in Criminal Minds, where a leading agent's spouse is executed over the phone while the FBI squad is rushing to their house to intervene. It's gut-wrenching, and possibly more emotional than the loss of Tracy. However, this movie was also done incredibly well. I feel as though it's hard to produce movies about serial killers simply because of the lengths writers and actors have to go to portray the psychotics of the behavior and acts on-screen. 

Kevin Spacey nailed the spine-chilling demeanor of John Doe. Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman's performances are some of the best I've seen of them. Mr. and Mrs. Smith has nothing on this film. It's a 9/10 for me. 

Cover image from IMDb