Se7en

A crime film set in a city that is never named. Somerset is a detective a week from retirement. Mills is young, ambitious and newly transferred. A body is found. A man dead from overeating, with a single word written on the wall. Then a lawyer dies and there is another word on the floor. The killings follow the seven deadly sins. From there the film is an investigation. Library records, forensics, a search of a flat that runs for hours, and locations that are never fully lit. The killer walks in and gives himself up, and the film enters its second half at that point; this is where the narrative opens its real subject. What the narrative is interested in is not murder but sermon: the man considers himself not a killer but someone setting an example, and the film does not dismiss the claim easily. The line between the two detectives is the real tension. One has already decided the city cannot be fixed, the other has not yet, and the ending tests that difference. It rains in almost every exterior; the city is never named and no date is given. The ending was argued over during production. The studio wanted it changed; Brad Pitt had its preservation written into his contract. There was also an accident: the script sent to David Fincher was the wrong draft, an early one that still contained the box. Kevin Spacey's name does not appear in the opening credits, which was a deliberate decision. The title sequence is by Kyle Cooper and is counted among the works that changed title design in the 1990s. Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow are in the cast. David Fincher directed; it was his second feature. Who it is for: anyone who likes dark crime films with merciless endings. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for relief; the film never lets you breathe.