Harrowing, gripping, utterly downbeat film.

Rating: 9/10 (17 August 1999)

I've seen Se7en twice, the second time because it was on when I was flipping channels. This film is absolutely brilliant, and it's difficult to think of a single misstep.
But it's not a film to enjoy; I think there's only one even vaguely upbeat scene in the film, there mostly to provide the necessary contrast with the awesome finale. The rest of the time it portrays the police inhabiting a city where it continually rains, where anyone could be indescribably evil, and where it takes the exceptionally twisted acts of the serial killer to shock the police.
Plaudits should go to everyone involved, with praise being heaped on Freeman, Pitt and Spacey. But the loudest applause should be reserved for the writer and director, Andrew Kevin Walker and David Fincher, for turning out such a masterpiece. Even the producers deserve some credit, for having the faith not to slap on a smiley happy ending, as is de rigeur in too many of the current confections being churned out of Hollywood.
See this film. You may well not enjoy it, you might not sleep too soundly afterwards, but it's worth it, to see one of the greatest films of recent years.