Release Year: 1995

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker

Stars: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey

Sin is kind of the "it" thing these days.

... Clearly not enough people have seen Seven.

In the movie Seven (or Se7en, if you're feeling funky), a mysterious killer is murdering people in an increasingly brutal fashion, using the classic seven deadly sins—gluttony, envy, wrath, pride, lust, greed, and sloth—as his inspiration.

It's suspenseful. It's intense. It's gory.

It's David Fincher.

Seven is one of director Fincher's earliest films, based on an original screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker. Fincher would go on to direct some of the creepiest and weirdest movies out there (The Game, Panic Room) and plenty of movies based on disturbing bestsellers (Gone Girl, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo). This guy is all about bringing depravity to the silver screen.

And, as we see in Seven, Fincher has always been depraved.

He's also always been attracted to big names. In Seven, the two detectives are played by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The actor playing the killer was kept a secret from filmgoers in 1995—back when secrets were still possible to keep—but we're here to spoil a two-decades-old film and tell you that it's Kevin Spacey at his creepiest. Finally, Pitt's wife is played by Pitt's then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow, and even the delivery driver is related to Patricia Arquette.

With all of the big names and the twisty, shocking plot, Seven was a huge hit for New Line Cinema in 1995, redefining the word "gross" in a couple of different ways. It raked in a massive $327 million worldwide. Against a budget of $33 million, that's a hefty profit, which can finance a lot of vices for many producers and investors—not that they would indulge in any sinful activity, of course. Critically, it was also a huge smash, certified almost 80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and winning prestigious golden popcorn buckets from MTV for Best Movie and Most Desirable Male—Brad Pitt.

Rawr.

So grab your most sinful movie treats—popcorn with real butter, Milk Duds, a soda you can swim in—and sit down for one of the most twisted psychological thrillers ever.

If you can keep your appetite, that is.

Like one of the Seven Wonders of the Movie World, Seven is a landmark film. It's creepy as all get-out, for one thing, and it inspired a load of copycat films, each one trying to ratchet up the gore and the thrills, like The Bone Collector (1999), Kiss the Girls (1997) (also with Morgan Freeman), and Copycat (1995), which, to be fair, came out only a month after Seven but is definitely the poor man's Seven.

It's a three or a four at best.

The real reason for Seven's lasting popularity is that it emphasizes the psychological part of the psychological thriller. The serial creepers of The Silence of the Lambs kill because they like eating people (yum) or wearing people (how stylish). John Doe in Seven kills to make a statement, a statement about humanity's capacity for sin. Seven examines not just the psychology of the killer but the psychology of his victims and the detectives pursuing him.

Seven makes everyone—religious or not—think about sin ... and what it's doing to society.

It also forces people to examine their inaction, too. Perhaps the greatest sin is apathy, like sitting around and watching Seven for the 17th time instead of actually getting out and doing something. Seven suggests that apathy has gotten the world into the state it is in, but it punishes those who try to do something about it. It's quite the paradox, and one you can pick apart for hours. And, considering the film's continued popularity, you can talk about it for years.

So, you might as well sit down and watch it for the 18th time to refresh your memory.