Thought-provoking chiller(Spoilers below)

Rating: Null/10 (4 September 2002)

A hard-hitting, noirish movie,, "Seven" is a detective horror thriller that contains a pair of typically mis-matched cops as they try to hunt down an elusive serial killer, whose modus operandi is the Seven Deadly Sins......
In an unnamed, rain-drenched hellhole of a city, world-weary Detective Somerset(Morgan Freeman) is about to retire. But he must spend his last week on the force with a hot-headed rookie, Detective Mills (Brad Pitt), as they uncover the killer behind a series of unusual and grisly murders.
Their first case is a grotesquely obese man who has been forced to eat until his stomach bursts. Their next case is a lawyer who's been forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh. Somerset deduces the killer is murdering people according to the Seven Deadly Sins. Little by little, as one murder follows another, the detectives themselves become entrapped in the killer's diabolical plan.
A taut, solid script delivers a fair share of shocks, suspense and a certain amount of gore. Andrew Kevin Walker also allows his characters to muse on the purpose of life, as well as adding some dark and deeply cynical views on everyday reality.
The film is very well shot, with light and colour being used in particular to accentuate the plot and themes of the film. A note left behind by the killer at the first murder scene reads: "Long is the road, and hard, that out of Hell leads up into light." This is reflected in the way the murder scenes are set, the first murder being committed in gloomy darkness and the last, and the most shocking, being committed in blinding sunlight. The cinematography further gives a very bleak view of city life, the streets shown to be grotty, grimy and miserable.
The film's fine technical qualities are supported by some excellent performances. Brad Pitt is on fine form is the cocksure copper whose impulsiveness becomes his undoing. By contrast, Morgan Freeman is very restrained, giving a quietly confident performance as the intellectual Somerset. Kevin Spacey nearly steals the entire film as the killer John Doe. His scene in the back of the police car where he righteously justifies his gruesome moral crusade is the film's most powerful and thought-provoking scene.
Well directed by David Fincher, "Se7en" remains an intriguing and very clever piece of modern horror.