Nearly 30 years after David Fincher’s thriller debuted, the Se7en ending still carries a reputation as one of the most shocking movie finales. The mᴀssive and disturbing twist that ends the film cemented its pop culture relevance, with even people who haven’t seen the movie aware of the ending. Often listed among the most popular thrillers of all time, Se7en proved to be something of a star vehicle for the then-up-and-coming Brad Pitt. With Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and more rounding out the film’s central cast, David Fincher’s Se7en ending delivers a mind-blowing conclusion that stays with audiences.

Se7en‘s story centers on Detectives Somerset (Freeman) and Mills (Pitt) as they hunt for a serial killer at large. Following a trail of murders based on the seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly sins eventually leads Mills and Somerset to the villainous John Doe (Kevin Spacey). With John Doe in custody, Mills and Somerset agree to be led to the final two victims, only for Doe to reveal himself as the first and Mills as the second. Joe Doe’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅly plan is revealed in its entirety in Se7en‘s final scene, proving that the killer was multiple steps ahead all along.

All Seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Sins & Murders Explained

How Do Mills And John Doe Become The Final Victims?

By the time the audience reaches the end of Se7en, they have already witnessed much of John Doe’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅly plan, with each killing based on a different facet of the seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly sins. Se7en‘s first sin is gluttony, and it’s at this crime scene that Mills and Somerset first meet. Doe’s first victim is unnamed in the film, but he was force-fed by John until his stomach exploded, making him the representation of gluttony.

Doe’s next victim is Eli Gould, a criminal defense attorney forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh, representing the sin of greed in the style of The Merchant of Venice. The next sin is sloth, and Doe’s third victim is Theodore Allen, a drug dealer and child abuser. Doe strapped Allen to his bed and kept him barely alive for a full year, taking and leaving pictures to prove Allen’s suffering in line with the sin of sloth.

The next sin is lust — Doe forces a man at gunpoint to rape an unnamed Sєx worker using a bladed implement. Following this, Doe moves on to pride, the fifth sin, and his next victim is a model named Rachel Slade. Doe mutilates Slade’s face, then gives her the option of calling for help and living with her disfigurement or ending her own life with an overdose of sleeping pills. Slade chooses the latter and becomes Doe’s fifth murder victim, representing the sin of pride.

The final two victims are only revealed after Doe’s arrest. After leading Mills and Somerset to a remote location, a box is delivered for Mills. Taunting the detective, Doe reveals that he has killed Mills’ wife, Tracy (and their unborn child), as he envied Mills’ normal life. Detective Mills then kills Doe, making Doe the sixth victim (representing envy) and ensuring Mills becomes the embodiment of the final sin (wrath).

What’s In The Box? Se7en Ending Twist Explained

The Contents Of The Box Are Never Shown

The box contents delivered to Mills in Se7en‘s final scene aren’t ever shown. However, the film overtly references the box’s contents, making it clear exactly what was in it. John Doe tells Mills that he killed Tracy out of envy and “took her pretty head.” This serves as the film’s big twist — that Tracy is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and Mills was always intended to be the final part of Doe’s plan, with Mills’ sudden comprehension of the situation enough to push him to murder Doe and embody the sin of wrath.

Se7en‘s twist ending is a relatively simple one, and that’s part of what makes it so effective: though the box’s grisly contents are never shown (or even explicitly described), it’s made clear that it contains Tracy’s severed head, and it’s Mills’ actions afterward that are most significant to Se7en‘s conclusion.

What Mills Killing John Doe Means

The Good Guys Don’t Really Win In The End

Mills killing John Doe is more significant than simply being the seventh murder and the representation of wrath. By killing Doe, Mills fulfills the killer’s plan, making Doe victorious even in death. Doe’s own motivations were to shock the world out of its own apathy, and in forcing Mills’ hand, he’s able to do so, albeit in a small way. Mills’ murder of Doe brings him down to the killer’s level, which, by Doe’s own logic, proves that no one, even the most admirable person, is above sin.

Why Somerset Doesn’t Retire: Se7en Ending’s Hemingway Quote Explained

Doe’s Plan Affected Somerset As Well

Mills is destroyed in the final moments of Se7en, but the final quote of the film actually evidences a significant change in Somerset, too. Seen as one of the greatest final lines in movies, Somerset narrates, “Ernest Hemingway once wrote, ‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I agree with the second part.” The quote, coupled with Somerset ᴀssuring his captain that he’ll “be around,” evidences that he no longer intends to retire as he did before.

Se7en’s final moments are left relatively open to interpretation…

This quote is important as it further proves that John Doe’s actions had their desired effect on his adversaries. Not only did he succeed in manipulating Mills, but he also shocked Somerset out of his own apathy, forcing the older detective to reevaluate his choice to retire. Se7en’s final moments are left relatively open to interpretation, but the Hemingway quote implies that Somerset has decided to fight for the world, even though it isn’t the fine place Hemingway believed it to be.

What’s Wrong With The City In Se7en? Why It’s So Bad To Live In

The Ruin Of The City Reflects The Movie’s Biblical Themes

The city in Se7en is deliberately left unnamed. The film’s ambiguous setting and regular references to what an awful place it is are significant to its story, as it’s effectively used to conjure the image of purgatory. John Doe’s seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly sins murders prove this, as those guilty are punished accordingly, drawing a parallel with Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”, which in itself heavily inspired Milton’s “Paradise Lost.”

The nature of Se7en‘s rainy city is used by Doe to justify his crimes, as its people are deemed apathetic, and the murders are intended to shock them into creating a better world. It has also been speculated that the city represents a ruined Garden of Eden (or a Paradise Lost, as Doe often refers to it), with the killer seemingly believing that humankind’s sins are to blame for the state of Se7en‘s city.

What Se7en’s Ending Really Means

The Movie Leaves John Doe As A Complicated Villain

Se7en‘s ending is particularly interesting as it not only allows its villain to win but seemingly justifies some of his actions in the process. By manipulating Detective Mills into killing him and bringing his plan to fruition, John Doe wins. This is further proven by Somerset’s decision not to retire, as he’s shocked out of his apathy, which is referred to in an earlier scene where he discusses his reasons for retiring with Mills. This actually paints John Doe as a righteous character, as Se7en‘s ending validates his intentions.

The ending sees the seven sins properly represented and cements the film’s setting as a purgatory-like location…

The ending sees the seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly sins properly represented and cements the film’s setting as a purgatory-like location, with Somerset staying on as a detective to continue to fight against the evil that John Doe embodies. Throughout the film, Mills is considered Somerset’s successor, and Doe’s targeting of the young detective is seemingly a way of forcing Somerset to take stock of himself. This actually paints Somerset as representing Se7en‘s final (and eighth) sin: apathy. John Doe’s plan sees Somerset continue in his role as a detective, effectively trapping him in purgatory and making him the film’s final victim.

How Se7en’s Ending Compares To Other David Fincher Movies

Fight Club Remains Another Iconic Fincher Ending

Among David Fincher’s movies, Se7en stands out as one of his most popular, but the ending is not the only one that has stayed with audiences. The filmmaker has a talent for leaving the audience with a memorable conclusion, which he has pulled off in a number of different ways.

Competing with Se7en as the most popular of Fincher’s endings is the ending of Fight Club, which leaves plenty of questions and ambiguity while still hitting the viewers with an unforgettable cinematic moment. As the Pixies song “Where Is My Mind?” plays, the Narrator and Marla look out over the skyline as corporate skyscrapers crumble to the ground in a thought-provoking and powerful image.

Gone Girl is another memorable Fincher ending, which, similar to Se7en, isn’t interested in giving the audience a nice and neat conclusion where the villain gets what is coming to them. Instead, the manipulative and murderous Amy Dunne gets away with all her lies and crimes, becoming the hero she wanted to be, while her husband Nick decides to stay with her as she is pregnant with his child. The question of what will become of this twisted couple is a chilling note to leave audiences on.

Certainly, the most underrated of Fincher’s endings is The Game. His follow-up to Se7en stars Michael Douglas as Nicholas, a man who is invited to play an immersive game that begins to take over his life to the point that he doesn’t know what is real anymore. In the end, just as Nicholas seems to discover he is at the center of a mᴀssive conspiracy, it is revealed it was all an elaborate game after all, and he makes it to the end.

However, the final moments put the question in the mind of the audience of whether or not the game is still going. With movies like this and the iconic Se7en ending, few filmmakers leave viewers with such a memorable final moment as David Fincher.

How The Se7en Ending Was Received

Se7en Is One Of The Most Celebrated Movie Endings Of All Time

Many people involved with the making of Se7en have discussed the ending and the pushback it originally received. David Fincher and Brad Pitt both stated that they signed onto the project with the understanding that the ending would not be changed. However, to conclude on such a bleak note certainly caused a lot of concern from the studio and producers. Thankfully, Fincher fought for his ending, and the result is one of the most iconic movie endings of all time.

To have the audience so invested in the final moments of a movie is why Se7en remains a classic.

Se7en was a great movie up until this final sequence, but there is no denying that the ending is what has cemented it as a truly great film. The dark and gruesome story that preceded the ending demanded that there be no happy ending, and as bleak as the reveal of what’s in the box is, such a shocking and brutal conclusion was inevitable for this story. Had the ending pulled its punches, it would have betrayed the story that came before it.

Not only does the ending work in the tone of the story, but it offers a huge gut punch to leave the audience with. It is not the kind of twist that the audience needs to hunt for clues for, but rather a shocking development that makes perfect sense for the story, yet takes the audience completely by surprise. The reveal that John Doe murdered Tracy is a blow, but it is immediately followed by the tension of what Mills is going to do.

Fincher brilliantly stages the confrontation to maximize the conflicted feelings of the audience. They want Mills to have his revenge, but know that it is what Doe wants. As soon as Mills pulls the trigger, it doesn’t feel like a victory but rather confirms that the villain won. To have the audience so invested in the final moments of a movie is why Se7en remains a classic.

David Fincher Finally Revealed What Was Actually In The Box

Fincher Cleared Up Some Misinformation About Filming The Scene

Se7en remains one of David Fincher’s most popular movies, and the ending is cemented as an iconic cinematic moment. As such, there are still a lot of rumors and talk surrounding the unforgettable reveal and how it actually came together during production. While these rumors can run wild, David Fincher addressed Se7en‘s ending to Entertainment Weekly and cleared up one aspect of filming it. While it was suggested by some that the actual box contained a fake Gwyneth Paltrow head, Fincher explains that the truth is much simpler:

No, it’s entirely ridiculous. I think we had a seven- or eight-pound sH๏τ bag. We had done the research to figure out, if Gwyneth Paltrow’s body mᴀss index was X, what portion of that would be attributable to her head. And so we had an idea of what that would weigh, and I think there was a weight in it.

And we did put a wig in there, so that when Morgan rips the box open if there were some of this tape that was used to seal the box — I think it was a sH๏τ bag and a wig, and I think the wig had a little bit of blood in it, so some of the hair would stick together. Remember, I think Morgan opened 16 or 17 of those things. But as I always say, you don’t need to see what’s in the box if you have Morgan Freeman.

While it is reᴀssuring to know that it was not a fake head staring back at Morgan Freeman when he opened that box, the fact that Fincher was so particular about getting the weight right and even including a wig, despite the fact that it is not seen, is a hilarious example of his attention to detail. However, the Se7en director is also absolutely right that seeing what was in the box was never important, as Freeman sells the moment with his reaction, a testament to the actor’s talents.