Moving Pictures: Revisiting Se7en As An Adult

One of the older movies that I have seen memed the most is Se7en — a crime drama from 1995 that starred Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey. In it, we follow the story of an overly eager rookie detective who moves to New York and gets paired up with a veteran, and they end up having to track down a serial killer whose modus operandi (more commonly recognised as "M.O.") is using the seven deadly sins.

I had already watched this film when I was a kid (I'm not kidding; my parents didn't really care much for the safety ratings), but I hardly remembered it. Unfortunately, whatever I could recall were pretty important moments that my child brain was shocked by, so I was curious to find out how it would feel to revisit that as an adult. Of course, quick spoiler warning! Se7en might be old as heck, but someone might still want to watch it someday!

As I said in the previous article where I revisited an old film, my wife is not a big fan of watching movies, so she hadn't seen this one yet; unfortunately, thanks to all the memes, she pretty much already knew the ending!

Once we had grabbed our homemade popcorn (she makes the best!) and started the film, it was shocking how much more evidently old Se7en felt in comparison to Girl, Interrupted! This is especially true when you realise there are only four years between them, as the former was released in 1995 and the latter in 1999. Right off the bat, this got my wife and I talking about how it made sense — it feels like T.V. has been around forever, but it's barely reaching 100 years of existence! It's almost magical if you think about it that way, especially because we got to know some of the first super famous people... which also explains why there have been so many lessons to learn, like maybe it's not a great idea to have kids become stars. That's a whole other conversation, though!

Going back to how old the film felt, if you've ever seen a kid's show as an adult, you might've realised they feel almost nonsensical. The transitions between the scenes and the dialogue felt weird, as if there wasn't a proper flow to follow. Even the things they said sometimes just felt unreal because they were cheesy and try-hard! I think anyone who's grown up in the '90s — or is a fan of classic movies — will recognise what I'm talking about. While you hear or see them all the time in memes or quotes, it's a whole different ride when you're trying to immerse yourself in the plot while the actors back-and-forth clichés very seriously.

Once we got used to it and stopped giggling about it, it was just downright weird to recognise the actors and know they might've been somewhat unknown at the time. The fact that the four lead actors are undoubtedly renowned nowadays is mindblowing! This is especially true because time is downright wibbly-wobbly: when watching them, it feels like it's been a million years from there to here, but if you look at them, it seems as if it's been barely 20! Though, maybe it's just me because I used to be so anxious about death, so I'm constantly comparing years and lifespans.

After we finally peeled through the layers that prevented our immersion, we got to the relatively normal ones, where we saw the characters and the actors' portrayal of them. I was absolutely smitten by the whole rookie and veteran detective duo! Sure, it's not unique at all, but this is the first time I've experienced it as an adult, and there are no words to describe how strange it is to associate with the veteran. When I was younger, I was physically incapable of seeing the old character's point of view; heck, sometimes, I found it easier to believe they existed only to be wrong and ruin everyone's fun!I feel elated every single time I connect with them; it reminds me there's a lot of good that comes with ageing, not just inching closer to the inevitable end.

Speaking of ageing and ageing poorly, the film drops some words that are big no-nos nowadays; obviously, I won't say them here, but it was jarring to hear them in such a casual way. As someone who obviously has used a few growing up because it was normal, I had forgotten how it would sound, and I can't say I miss it. There's certainly a nasty level of discomfort that arose when watching Brad Pitt just casually F- and R-bomb during a rage scene, but it did highlight how much progress we've made when it comes to being more sensitive and thoughtful and why that is important, too.

It is undeniable why the cast made it far in Hollywood. I didn't need proof that Morgan Freeman deserved it — even as a kid, I saw it! But if I'm being completely honest, I've never thought Brad Pitt stood out that much as an actor. While I haven't seen a lot of movies he stars in as an adult, whatever films I've seen him in didn't particularly make me feel like he left an impression. This is a bit surprising, considering he's done more than just roles where he plays a character who is only seen for his attractiveness, as evidenced by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Inglorious Bastards. He just never made me care for his acting the way others have, like with John Krasinski in A Quiet Place, James McAvoy in Split and X-Men: Days of Future Past, or even Ryan Reynolds and Steve Carell's less serious but still impacting performances. That all being said, though, I did enjoy his role as Mills in Se7en.

In the end, knowing the grand reveal didn't really stop me from thoroughly enjoying the film! Maybe if we weren't watching it as a bonding experiment nearly 30 years later, I wouldn't have thought it was that interesting; who knows? But for its age (and, truth be told, perhaps even without that in mind), Se7en is a pretty good movie, and if you haven't watched it, I recommend you start making some popcorn.