Se7en

You know, after all these years and rewatches later, from the moment when John Doe walks into the precinct shouting "DETECTIVE!" I can't help but find myself quaking in my seat. Harlie wanted to watch this for movie night as she'd never seen it. It is strange watching it with someone's first time because you find yourself wondering what they're thinking--what they're responding to or not. This time around, I found myself clocking how much of the film is Somerset and Mills talking, versus them dusting off crime scenes and looking at dead bodies. That balancing act of characters philosophizing at a bar about right and wrong, sane or insane, always felt like such a minor aspect of this film, in favor of the fuck-ed up deaths. But in reality, there is quite a bit of sitting around trying to diagnose the killer from afar, reading books, getting breakfast with Tracy, waiting for fingerprint matches, etc. And it's all vital to the feeling of griminess, of the feeling that Tracy expresses at the diner--why would someone live here, let alone raise a child in a place so fucked. Every building appears to be leaking or sweating--the walls are cracking, probably covered in mold. Fincher and Co. really made a city that feels so dank and decrepit. Also, shout out to the amazing work by Darius Khondji. Maybe it's just the ubiquity of this film and the story, and particularly the ending, but man, I forgot how good this film LOOKS. Truly masterful stuff. 9.4/10