Seven (1995)
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85% of critics liked it
(54 reviews) -
94% of users liked it
(403,294 ratings)
Director David Fincher's dark, stylish thriller ranks as one of the decade's most influential box-office successes. Set in a hellish vision of a New York-like city, where it is always raining and the air crackles with impending death, the film concerns Det. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman),… More Director David Fincher's dark, stylish thriller ranks as one of the decade's most influential box-office successes. Set in a hellish vision of a New York-like city, where it is always raining and the air crackles with impending death, the film concerns Det. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), a homicide specialist just one week from a well-deserved retirement. Every minute of his 32 years on the job is evident in Somerset's worn, exhausted face, and his soul aches with the pain that can only come from having seen and felt far too much. But Somerset's retirement must wait for one last case, for which he is teamed with young hotshot David Mills (Brad Pitt), the fiery detective set to replace him at the end of the week. Mills has talked his reluctant wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), into moving to the big city so that he can tackle important cases, but his first and Somerset's last are more than either man has bargained for. A diabolical serial killer is staging grisly murders, choosing victims representing the seven deadly sins. First, an obese man is forced to eat until his stomach ruptures to represent gluttony, then a wealthy defense lawyer is made to cut off a pound of his own flesh as penance for greed. Somerset initially refuses to take the case, realizing that there will be five more murders, ghastly sermons about lust, sloth, pride, wrath, and envy presented by a madman to a sinful world. Somerset is correct, and something within him cannot let the case go, forcing the weary detective to team with Mills and see the case to its almost unspeakably horrible conclusion. The moody photography is by Darius Khondji; the nauseatingly vivid special effects are by makeup artist Rob Bottin, best known for more fantasy-oriented work in films like The Howling (1981). ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Directed By
- David Fincher
- Written By
- Andrew Kevin Walker
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Drama
- In Theaters
- Sep 22, 1995 Wide
- Studio
- New Line Cinema
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The filmmakers stick to their vision with such dedication and persistence that something indelible comes across--something ethically and artistically superior to The Silence of the Lambs that refuses to exploit suffering for fun or entertainment.
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Variety Staff, Variety
An intensely claustrophobic, gut-wrenching thriller.
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David Ansen, Newsweek
So chic, studied and murky it resembles a cross between a Nike commercial and a bad Polish art film.
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Derek Adams, Time Out
Fincher handles the violence with sensitivity, announcing its obscenity in spoken analyses and briefly glimpsed post mortem shots, but never showing the murderous acts themselves.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
The crime scenes are rendered in sickening detail, and the whole film has a murky, madly pretentious tone.
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Cast
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Brad Pitt
as David Mills
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Morgan Freeman
as William Somerset
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Gwyneth Paltrow
as Tracy Mills
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Kevin Spacey
as John Doe
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R. Lee Ermey
as Police Captain
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Richard Roundtree
as Talbot
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Julie Araskog
as Mrs. Gould
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Lexie D. Bigham
as Sweating Cop at Massage Parlour
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Mark Boone Jr.
as Greasy FBI Man
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Gene Borkan
as Eli Gould (Sin of Greed)
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Reg E. Cathey
as Coroner
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George Christy
as Workman
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David Correia
as Cop at Massage Parlour
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Peter Crombie
as Dr. O'Neill
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Brian Evers
as Duty Sergeant
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Hawthorne James
as George Library Night Guard
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Dominique Jennings
as TV News Reporter
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Michael Reid Mackay
as Victor (Sin of Sloth)
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Michael Massee
as Man in Massage Parlour Booth
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John C. McGinley
as California
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Richard Portnow
as Dr. Beardsley
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Richard Schiff
as Mark Swarr
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Tudor Sherrard
as Coupon Man
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Charles Tamburro
as SWAT Helicopter Pilot
- Pamela Tyson
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Harrison White
as Cop on SWAT Team
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Shannon Wilcox
as Cop Behind Desk
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Allan Kolman
as Forensic Man
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John Cassini
as Officer Davis
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Andrew Kevin Walker
as Opening Scene Corpse (uncredited)
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Leland Orser
as Crazed Man in Massage Parlour
- Daniel Zacapa
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Bob Collins
as Library Guard
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Bob Stephenson
as Cop on SWAT Team



