10 Movie Scenes That Brilliantly Subverted Expectations
2. John Doe Turns Himself In - Se7en
What's the last thing we expect a serial killer to do in any movie? Why, turn themselves in of course.
And in David Fincher's Se7en, like any other entry into the genre, we surely expect that the vicious John Doe (Kevin Spacey) will only be caught by some top-tier sleuthing on the part of detectives Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman).
But that's not what happens at all - at the start of the third act Doe, who hasn't been seen on-screen up to this point, rocks up to the police station covered in blood and willingly surrenders to the cops.
What follows is surely the ultimate example of the "I meant to get caught" trope, because years before films like The Dark Knight, The Avengers, and Skyfall did it in decidedly more convoluted fashion, Doe only allowed himself to be captured so the grim final step in his sinful plot could play out.
At the time, though, an antagonist doing this for any reason was basically unheard of.