When Andrew Kevin Walker was shopping hisSevenscript around town, a lot of studios would only agree to produce the movie on the condition that the unsettling ending be changed to a more optimistic one. According toDigital Spy, both Brad Pitt and director David Fincher put their feet down and refused to let the ending be changed. Now, the ending ofSevenis considered to be one of the most iconic plot twists in movie history. It ranks alongsidePsycho’s Norma Bates reveal andThe Empire Strikes Back’s paternity bombshell. But the ending ofSevenhas a deeper meaning beyond its “What’s in the box!?” shocker.
What Is Seven About?
Sevenis a grisly horror-tinged take onthe classic “buddy cop” formula. Morgan Freeman stars as William Somerset, a grizzled veteran cop on the brink of retirement, à la Roger Murtaugh, opposite Brad Pitt as David Mills, a hotshot young rookie eager to crack his first big case, à la Martin Riggs. Instead of taking on drug lords or gun runners, these mismatched detectives are on the trail of a sadistic serial killer. Identified only as John Doe, this killer carries out a string of methodically planned murders inspired by the Bible’s “seven deadly sins.” Doe picks out victims that are guilty of these sins and figures out an ironic way to kill them using that sin. The obese gluttony victim is force-fed to death, the beautiful pride victim is disfigured and driven to suicide, and the drug-dealing sloth victim is tied to a bed and left to starve.
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A running thread in the movie that gets paid off in horrifying fashion in the final scene is Mills’ strained relationship with his pregnant wife Tracy. Tracy had reservations about moving to the film’s crime-ridden urban setting (an unnamed city often speculated to beBatman’s hometown of Gotham) and she isn’t sure if it’s the right place to raise a child. Throughout the film, Tracy confides in Somerset as he lends a compassionate ear. His world-weariness and years of life experience mean he’s able to provide the emotional support that her husband struggles to give her. In the shocking ending ofSeven, the Doe and Tracy storylines converge in a haunting and truly unexpected way.
What Happens At The End Of Seven?
Towards the end ofSeven’s second act, when Somerset and Mills have figured out that Doe is targeting his victims based on the seven deadly sins and envy and wrath still have yet to take their turn, the story goes off on a wildly subversive tangent. Midway through his Biblical killing spree, Doe turns himself in. He walks into the police station and hands himself over to Somerset and Mills. He threatens to plead insanity in his trial, which could mean he escapes justice, unless the detectives drive him out to a specific location in the middle of the desert, where he promises to identify his envy and wrath victims. During the drive, Doe tells Somerset and Mills that he believes he was chosen by God to send a message to humanity and its indifferent attitude towards its own sins. He feels that his murders are a timely reminder that sinning has serious consequences and should be taken seriously.
When they get to the location Doe specified, Somerset and Mills are surprised to find that there are no bodies there. Instead, a delivery truck arrives with a mysterious package. Upon opening the box, Somerset is horrified.Fincher never actually shows what’s in the box– despite Mills begging Somerset to tell him – but it’s implied to be Tracy’s severed head. This drives Mills into such a violent rage that he kills Doe and gets taken away by his own fellow lawmen. As it turns out, Doe himself was the envy victim (he envied the life that Mills shared with his wife) and Mills was the wrath victim (his impulsive killing of Doe was an expression of his wrath).
Walker toldCinefantastiquethat the bleak ending ofSevenwas intended to reflect the bleakness of the real world: “There’s lots of evil out there, and you’re not always going to get the satisfaction of having any sort of understanding of why that is. That’s one of the things that scares people the most about serial killers.” Like many great horror films,Sevenrefuses to give its audience the comfort of closure. Somerset’s closing narration says, “Ernest Hemingway once wrote, ‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I agree with the second part.” What he means is that the world isn’t a fine place – it’s an ugly, terrible place filled withevil people like Doe– but it is worth fighting for, because there are plenty of good people who deserve to have someone looking out for them.
Where Can You Watch Seven?
Sevenis currently available to stream on HBO Max. It’s also available to watch with ads on Tubi and it’s available to rent on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, and YouTube Movies.
