Spoiler review of the film 'Se7en'

I chose to do a spoiler review of the film se7en, it is a crime thriller with some very dark themes that leave you tense throughout and shaken once the film has ended. The film opens with detective somerset (morgan freeman) preparing to leave his house for work.
When he leaves the shot then changes to show a dead body at a crime scene, this shows the type of gruesome images detective somerset sees everybody in his job, immediately setting the dark mood of the film. the lighting of this scene is also key to immediately outlining it as a thriller as it shows the dim low key lighting used frequently throughout thrillers.



Main Plot Summary
The basic plot of the film follows 2 men, detective somerset and detective mills as they try to discover who is behind a series of gruesome murders. The killer murders his victims based on each of the seven deadly sins gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust and envy. For example the first killing involves a obese man and is labelled "gluttony". They find clues relating to other deaths at each of the crime scenes which leads them to the conclusion that they are looking for a serial killer who has planned out these killings perfectly for a long time.
On a different tangent in the story Detective Mills wife is pregnant and confides in Somerset before she tells Mills. Somerset reveals that he has previously pressured a girlfriend into having an abortion as he did not want to have a child growing up in the city. He says that if she is too have an abortion mills should never know and if not she should spoil the child every chance she gets.

After Somersets extensive study at the library he tracks down a man named John Doe who has checked out multiple books on the seven deadly sins over the past year. Mills and Somerset visit his flat but he sees them outside and shoots at them. The two detectives chase him with mills leading the chase and somerset just behind, the chase climaxes with mills being held as gunpoint by Doe before Doe seems to have a sudden change of heart and releases him. 

Shortly after the 2 officers have returned to the station we are shown Doe leaving a taxi and entering the station to hand himself in. He offers the two officers a way for them to see the last 2 bodies, if they refuse his offer however he will plead insanity and will not be punished for his crimes. The two detectives agree and drive Doe out to a remote desert location, being followed from above by more police officers in a helicopter incase the whole situation is a set up. Doe asks what the time is, shortly after a delivery van approaches and Somerset runs over to intercept it, he is informed by the driver that he was told to deliver a package to that exact location at that exact time, again showing the extent to which Doe has planned all of his actions. Somerset looks inside the box and is horrified at what is inside, we are not shown what it is but Somerset runs back to
Mills shouting for him not to listen to Doe. Doe reveals to Mills that the box contains the head of his wife Tracey, after seeing the way that Somerset is running towards him Mills realises Doe is telling the truth. Doe then taunts the now distraught Mills by informing him that his wife was pregnant when he killed her. "She begged for her life, and the life of the baby inside of her" unable to deal with this rationally Mills shouts and shoots Doe dead. The film ends with detective Somerset quoting Ernest Hemingway

"The world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part."

Key Moments
- Discovery of the gluttony body
- Discovery of greed murder body
- Discovery of sloth murder body
- Mills' wife admittance of pregnancy to Somerset
- Visit to Doe's apartment
- No fingerprints in entire apartment
- Clues lead to lust victim
- Discovery of pride victim
- Doe turning himself in
- Journey to desert
- Arrival of delivery van
- Discovery that box contains head of Mills wife
- Mills shooting Doe

Key aspects of why it is a thriller

The film fits all aspects that are associated with the thriller genre. The film is set in a nameless city where it rains nearly all of the time. This gives the low key lighting and shadows that you expect to find in thrillers. The fact that one of the victims was kept alive but paralyzed for over a year keeps with the thriller idea that things take place in the real world around us. It shows that people do not notice something that could be happening right on their doorstep. The film is a crime thriller and we as a viewer help the detectives uncover the case. The main enigma code in the film is why did the killer murder all thes people rather than wondering who the killer is as he turns himself in. This allows us too look at the film from a totally different perspective. The film does contain all the major plot twits you expect from thriller such as when Mills wife reveals to Somerset she is pregnant and when her head is in the box at the end of the film.

Conclusions and Overall Rating
This fim delivers all that you would expect from a crime thriller. It has a very complex plotline as you cannot work out why the killer is carrying out these murders. This keeps you interested and supplies all of the plot twists that you expect to find in a film classed under the thriller genre. The dark clouds and constant rain in the city set a very dark tense atmosphere, this accompanied with the dark lighting in all of the crime scenes adds a lot of mystery to the happenings in the film. You see the majority of the film from the perspectives of Detectives Mills and Somerset however at the end in the desert you start to see the reasons behind why Doe carried out the murders, giving us his perspective on what is happening. It makes the viewer more interested as it ends the film with a more well rounded feel, letting the viewers see both sides of the story.
I would rate the film 4/5. I feel it was a good thriller but the first 45 minutes or so of the film were very slow and did not hold the viewers attention as many other thrillers I've seen in the past have done.