SEVEN

SEVEN (2004) is a psychological thriller directed by David Fincher, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. While it shares a similar title with the infamous WTC Building 7, also known as Seven World Trade Center, the film is not a reference to the event. The plot revolves around two detectives in the city of Seattle, Washington, portrayed by Morgan Freeman as Detective William Somerset and Brad Pitt as Detective David Mills, who are assigned a gruesome series of murders in which the killer is using the seven deadly sins as a motif. The story begins with a sense of melancholy and routine as Detective Somerset, nearing retirement, is paired with a young and ambitious detective, David Mills. Their first case, involving a murder at the location of a decomposing body in a car, is a graphic representation of gluttony. They are introduced to John Doe, a cold, calculating, and seemingly emotionless individual who commits his atrocities in a manner that corresponds to each of the seven deadly sins. As Somerset and Mills dig deeper, they unravel a complex web of deceit, corruption, and obsession that propels their investigations through the city, encountering an increasing number of murders that match the seven deadly sins. The sins that are portrayed in the film are listed as follows: 1. Gluttony: A man who indulged in excessive food consumption, ultimately succumbing to an enormous amount of garbage which is used to asphyxiate him. 2. Greed: A wealthy businessman brutally murdered in his penthouse, after being subjected to an excessive dose of a toxin meant to rob him of his vast fortune. 3. Sloth: A homeless man shot and murdered due to his excessive reliance on others for life necessities. The man had become too reliant on others to help him survive. 4. Wrath: An enraged individual who was consumed by rage, brutally slaughtered in a manner that signifies the wrath he exhibited, which ultimately led to his demise. 5. Pride: A high-society family torn apart by a wife who is desperate to hold on to the last shred of their status. The film's portrayal of this sin showcases the wife's extreme need for status. 6. Lust: A prostitute brutally murdered and her body posed to signify the killer's lust and fixation on sexuality. 7. Envy: The final case, in which the killer murders his wife, in a cold and dispassionate manner. This act highlights his desire to possess what he could never have for himself, a concept that showcases his extreme form of longing. The film ultimately reveals the motivations behind the gruesome series of murders. As it explores each of the seven deadly sins, it is discovered that John Doe is driven by an intrinsic sense of self-improvement, rather than the typical perception of people seeking out the sins due to personal satisfaction. John Doe commits his murders to rid the world of evil, and in the process, he is actually the embodiment of all the deadly sins. The final confrontation occurs when Mills and his pregnant wife, Tracy, attempt to apprehend John Doe in his hideout, where he is discovered to be obsessed with Tracy. Upon their confrontation, Doe reveals that the true intention behind his murders is an act of self-expression, and by killing others, he has the ability to rid the world of evil. In a final act of defiance, Doe shoots and kills Tracy, forcing Mills to shoot and kill him. In the aftermath, Somerset retires and Mills is haunted by his experience with John Doe and Tracy's murder, highlighting his struggle to cope with the trauma and the darkness that the world holds. As for the real WTC Building 7, the official investigation conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) concluded that it collapsed due to progressive structural damage during the 9/11 attacks, rather than any controlled demolition.