MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | SEVEN

“𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹…”

I love my blog. That’s a great place to start. Why? Because every now and again I get to read something so stunning, so mind-blowingly absorbing, that it gives me chills and I end up grinning from ear to ear.

Plot in a nutshell; In a nameless city, two detectives, a hotshot rookie and a veteran close to retirement, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.

Where to begin?

SEVEN (or Se7en, if you prefer) is one of (easily) the top three greatest scripts I have ever read. This is not the final shooting draft, but with exception of the ending (more on that later), damn well should be. I wish I could describe to you the beauty and vividness of the action directions. The detail and the imagery are just breathtaking and paint such a captivating picture, each page is to be savoured and absorbed deep into the scriptwriting part of your brain. Such riches should be lesson 101 on writing courses across the globe.

The religious research is so intricate. The books cited and quoted. The texts referenced by the detectives. The plan itself for the murderer. The free form to work outside of the order of the sins. The meta use of the detectives discussing this, as the scriptwriter writes this! And this is back in the late 90’s! Just amazing.

As I mentioned before, it was a complete surprise to find a different ending. It still follows the same tableau as the final production, with Tracey swapped for Mills and Mills swapped for Somerset this time. Oh yeah, and it’s now set in an abandoned orphanage. With Mills strung up and dowsed in petrol. You get the idea. But this gave me the welcome chance to judge the script afresh. But it still felt like the ending didn’t match the power of the rest of the script. So very glad they changed that!

The greatest torture and yet the greatest achievement of this (and frankly any) version of the script (and spoiler alert!) is that the only truly decent character in this script, David Mills, the hero, the good guy, the one who does no wrong whatsoever, is the one who is most tortuously tested and finally destroyed. Such an ending and yet such an accomplished twist shows the kind of planning Daniel Day Lewis puts into his performances. Next Level doesn’t get close. This is what special looks like. This is what a writer lays awake at night thinking about. How can I get my script that good? Guaranteed writer Andrew Kevin Walker slept well that night. No worries there. Well earned mate.

Mic drop.

So, what did I learn from SEVEN?

Trust me, I could REALLY go on, but let’s cut to the meat!

1) Somersets train journey from his house purchase in the peaceful countryside, to his return to work in the cancerous city is a wonderful example of layers and how to transition from one world to another. Beautiful to ugly, innocent to guilty, light to dark, clean to dirty in so many poignant and memorable ways, that you could do worse than take inspiration from this cracking introduction.

2) Our introduction to Mills at the start, with a fight sequence between him and two car thieves is an effectively written fight sequence; short, sweet, practical and violent. Great introduction to his character and a taste of the violence to come in this script. Also, yet another great example of how to write a fight sequence.

3) In this draft, there is a lovemaking scene between Mills and Tracey. It is done respectfully, passionately and yet holds their most intimate personalities on view. Great example for writing that kind of scene, or as a good start for an intimacy coordinator to work with.

4) Descriptions of the crime scenes are so engaging and detailed, it’s just enough to paint a perfect picture of what is there, but not so much that you get bored or feel like you’re wading through an actual crime report. Every ounce of this scripts flesh has been leanly cut to only leave meat.

5) Just like A QUIET PLACE (see my first review), Walker has opted to use a diagram in his script. To be precise; a diagram of the 7 Terraces of Purgation (viewed by Mills in a book, as part of his research). It does a great job of adding to Mills frustration and bewilderment, which we can all easily share. Neat tool and another example of using a clever device.

6) Later on, there is an excellent scene where Mills and Somerset work through a list of suspects, ruling them out one by one. As they rule one out, focus cuts to an image of one of the sins, teasingly offering us potential glimpses of the next murder scene. What can we glean? What questions does it create in the reader?

7) The ever present crime chalkboard, indicating victims slain and sins accomplished so far on the case, appearing throughout the script, is a wisely used touchstone for the characters, the audience and the readers, just to let them know where we are in the investigation. It is also an excellent marker, breaking up the action and placing us very clearly back into the investigation whenever the script has finished exploring other avenues, such as Somerset or Tracey’s personal time.

8)Finally, The transportation of John Doe from police station to final destination in the junkyard (later changed to the desert for the movie), is a masterpiece in police procedural interaction across many platforms. From P.130 onwards, the conversation traverses between Mills and Doe in the car, Somerset following them and California scouting ahead from a helicopter. The conversation jumps between headsets and the tension grows as the journey continues. The ADs are both descriptive and perfectly framed. There is only what needs to be there, with some exquisite window dressing to help the scene flourish. One example in particular really caught me;

“FROM HIGH ABOVE, we see traffic on the highway at the polluted river's edge. Cars and trucks move like blood through veins.” Utterly captivating. If you’re looking to write a scene with characters listening in on conversations through wireless pieces and radios, or even a police pursuit, this is a stunning example.

Yeah I know. Long one this review. Don’t care. There was so much to learn from this script and it was such an incredible joy to read. This is what I want to be able to write. This is the quality I want to aspire to. This is my new benchmark. And I’m still grinning from ear to ear.

Link to the script;

https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/Seven.pdf