25 Things You Didn’t Know About Se7en
6. There's Only One Onscreen Murder
Considering Seven is regarded as one of the most brutal and violent serial killer thrillers in cinema history, there are actually very few acts of violence in the film.
In point of fact, John Doe is never seen committing any of the crimes he takes credit for - none of the serial crimes are seen taking place, only their aftermath. The only murder that takes place in camera is when Mills shoots the unarmed Doe at the climax, and the only other violent act comes with the culmination of Mills’ chase after Doe in the rain earlier on, when Mills is struck by the killer to evade capture.
Given that one of the properties that Seven is credited with inspiring is the long-running serial killer procedural Criminal Minds, which mostly deals with the after effects of crime and the crime scenes, this seems fairly appropriate. However, it’s odd to think that there are daytime soap operas with more onscreen violence than Seven.