What makes Se7en a thriller?

Thrillers use tension, supsension and excitment, the genre depends on adrenaline rush using suprise, anxiety and terror. Their are many sub genres under thrillers including: comedy thriller, crime thriller, Erotic thriller and spy thriller. Common themes throughout thrillers involve kidnappers, murders and ransoms.

Se7en follows a similar plot to most thrillers in that the main storyline involves a mystery that needs to be solved, in this case the mystery of the seven sins.
It also follows the quest for the "good guys" in their desire for justice and morality, with Mills and Somerset fighting for the justice of the murders of the seven victims (imbd.com).


Se7en also has a climatic ending in where Mills in a force of rage murders John Doe for cutting off his wifes head, which is exactly what John Doe wanted him to do. His whole plan is unraveled at the end. 

Summary of Se7en

The set for se7en is in a city that is not specified, however it appears to be similar to New York with a big city vibe to it. As you follow Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) as they chase a Pyschopath (Kevin Spacey).

The title of the thriller refers to the seven deadly sins:

Gluttony

Greed 

Sloth 

Envy

Wrath 

Pride

Lust

The detectives follow the footsteps of John Doe as he causes the death of seven victims being  patient, brutal  and careful. We don't see John Does face until he turns himself in right before the climatic ending, which shows he is a shady and mysterious character. The two detectives don't get on until the wife of Mills invites over Somerset. She then confides in him and meets him at a later point to inform him of her pregnancy, which Mills doesn't find out about until she is dead.

The final victim isn't someone that John Doe has directly murdered, he provokes Mills into shooting him and completing the seven deadly sins.