Se7en

Se7en

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow,

Kevin Spacey.

Run Time: 127 Minutes

Plotline

An experienced detective and a rookie take on the case of a serial killer who uses one of the seven deadly sins for each of his murder victims.

Storyline

A film about two homicide detectives' desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins. The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopathic "John Doe" sermonizes to Detectives Sommerset and Mills -- one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderer's terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured but jaded Sommerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killer's modus operandi while the bright but green and impulsive Detective Mills scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer.

Conventions of a Thriller

• Low key lighting
• Quick cuts
• Shadows
• Tension music 
• Changes in the angle of shots
• Diegetic sound of breathing
• Black and white shots
• Montage of shots
• Protagonist is in the mercy of the antagonist 

Se7en is a thriller because it uses low key lighting to add suspense and mystery to the film. It also uses other conventions of thrillers such as tense music and quick cuts, these features are used to make the audience think about what is happening.