My views
Plot
In an unnamed city overcome with violent crime and corruption, disillusioned police Detective Lieutenant William Somerset is one week from retirement. He is partnered with David Mills, a young, short-tempered, idealistic detective who recently relocated to the city with his wife, Tracy.
On Monday, Somerset and Mills investigate an obese man who was forced to eat until his stomach burst, killing him. The detectives find the word "gluttony" written on a wall. Somerset, considering the case too extreme for his last investigation, asks to be reassigned, but his request is denied.
The following day, another victim, who had been forced to cut one pound (0.45 kg) of flesh from his body, is found; the crime scene is marked "greed." Clues at the scene lead Somerset and Mills to the sloth victim, a drug-dealing pederast whom they find emaciated and restrained to a bed. Photographs reveal the victim was restrained for precisely one year. Somerset surmises the murders are based on the Christian concept of the seven deadly sins.
Tracy invites Somerset to share supper with her and Mills, helping the detectives overcome their mutual hostility. On Friday, Tracy meets privately with Somerset because she has no other acquaintances in the city. She reveals her unhappiness at moving there, especially after learning she is pregnant, and believes the city is an unfit place to raise a child.
Somerset sympathizes with Tracy, having persuaded his former girlfriend to abort their child for similar reasons and regretting it ever since. He advises Tracy to inform Mills only if she intends to keep the child.
A remark by Mills inspires Somerset to research libraries for anyone checking out books based on the seven deadly sins, leading the pair to John Doe's apartment. Unexpectedly, Doe returns home and is pursued by Mills. Doe incapacitates him by striking him with a tire iron and holds him at gunpoint, but chooses to leave him alive and flees.
The police investigate Doe's apartment, finding a large amount of cash, hundreds of Doe's notebooks, and photographs of some of his victims; the cache includes images of Somerset and Mills by a person they believed was an intrusive journalist at the sloth crime scene. Doe calls the apartment and speaks of his admiration for Mills.
On Saturday, Somerset and Mills investigate the fourth victim, lust, a prostitute who has been raped with a custom-made, bladed strap-on by a man held at gunpoint. The following day, the pride victim is found: a model whom Doe facially disfigured. Unable to live without her beauty, she committed suicide.
As Somerset and Mills return to the police station, Doe arrives covered in blood and surrenders himself. He threatens to plead insanity at his trial, potentially escaping punishment, unless Mills and Somerset escort him to an undisclosed location where they will find the envy and wrath victims. During the drive, Doe says he believes God has chosen him to send a message about the ubiquity of, and apathy toward, sin. Doe has no remorse for his victims, believing the shocking murders will force society to pay attention to him.
Doe leads the detectives to a remote location far outside city limits, where a delivery van approaches. Somerset intercepts the vehicle, whose driver was instructed to deliver a package to Mills at this specific time and location. He is horrified at the package's contents and tells Mills to put down his gun.
Doe reveals he himself represents envy because he envied Mills's life with Tracy and implies the package contains her severed head. He urges Mills to become wrath, telling him Tracy begged for her life and that of her unborn child, and takes pleasure in realizing Mills was unaware of the pregnancy.
Despite Somerset's pleas, Mills, distraught and enraged, shoots Doe dead, completing Doe's plan. Police remove the catatonic Mills, and Somerset tells his captain he will "be around." Somerset says in voiceover: "Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part."
Comments
Post a Comment