25 Best Movies Like ‘Se7en’
Se7en is such a dark and effective crime thriller that it’s very easy to overlook how silly the title is, given it replaces a “v” with a “7,” and so is seemingly pronounced “Sesevenen.” It was arguably David Fincher‘s first great film, and has a plot that follows two detectives going after a dangerous serial killer who appears to be committing a series of murders that are each based on one of the seven deadly sins.
It’s the sort of movie that’s proved to be influential and remarkably popular in the years since its release (even getting a 4k remaster), and at the same time, it’s possible to see certain titles released before Se7en as influencing it and its dark neo-noir narrative. The following movies all have certain similarities to Fincher’s 1995 film and are worth checking out for fans of dark, twist-filled, and sometimes stomach-churning crime, thriller, and mystery movies.
25
‘Frenzy’ (1972)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
While Alfred Hitchcock made most of his movies at a time in history when there were certain restrictions in place content-wise, he was still able to craft his fair share of dark, morbid, and violent films. Frenzy, one of his last ones overall, did have the benefit of being made at a time when you could get away with showing a little more, ensuring that much of it still packs a punch 50+ years later.
There is a dark sense of humor to be found at the heart of Frenzy, but it is still pretty bleak and intense overall, following a chaotic chase to find the serial killer behind a series of murders targeting women in London. It’s worth a watch for anyone who likes a good crime/thriller flick and doesn’t mind the idea of things getting a little mean-spirited (again, in a somewhat funny way, at least at times).
- Release Date
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May 25, 1972
- Runtime
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116 minutes
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Jon Finch
Richard Ian Blaney
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Barbara Leigh-Hunt
Brenda Margaret Blaney
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Anna Massey
Barbara Jane ‘Babs’ Milligan
24
‘Longlegs’ (2024)
Directed by Osgood Perkins
Scratching the same sort of crime/thriller/horror itch that Se7en does, Longlegs is perhaps one of the more interesting horror flicks of the decade so far. There is a familiarity with the core premise, which involves the tracking down of a dangerous criminal, but there’s a good deal more to it than that, with various revelations made in the back half that help Longlegs get a little weirder and less predictable.
It’s also a movie that benefits from having a very strange Nicolas Cage performance, and he’s used the perfect amount here for the kind of character he plays. Elsewhere, Maika Monroe is very good in the lead role, and writer/director Osgood Perkins injects the whole thing with a ton of energy from a stylistic viewpoint. It’s an odd sort of blend of horror and crime, but a largely compelling one overall.
23
‘Spiral: From the Book of Saw’ (2021)
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
While it’s unlikely to be anyone’s favorite entry in the series, Spiral: From the Book of Saw is a bit over-hated. Yes, being on board with the fact that this is a Saw movie starring Chris Rock can be a bit of an obstacle, and there is a twist here that’s probably the least surprising of any Saw movie twist… but there’s an element on the police procedural side of things that helps it stand out.
In Spiral: From the Book of Saw, there are still some grisly traps and moments of ultra-violence, but it’s also a little like the first movie in that the investigation occurring around the traps/murders proves arguably more important than the other stuff. When the conclusion to the mystery underwhelms, it does hurt the movie overall, but before then, there’s a sense of brazenness and grit to this one that makes it more than watchable.
- Release Date
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May 14, 2021
- Runtime
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93 minutes
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-
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Max Minghella
Detective William Schenk
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Marisol Nichols
Captain Angie Garza
22
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
A crime movie where there’s an intentional focus on those outside the law, and an emphasis on how those on the “right side” can’t do much, No Country for Old Men is as stunning as it is bleak. It’s all about the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, with one man stumbling across the site and taking a large quantity of cash with him, which makes him the target of a relentless assassin tasked with getting that cash back.
Even if you know how it ends, No Country for Old Men is unwaveringly intense for almost its entire runtime, with a central villain who’s a big reason for that continued sense of dread and/or outright terror. It’s not a feel-good movie by any means, but it is a remarkable film, and likely the best film adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy story to date.
21
‘8MM’ (1999)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Another film starring Nicolas Cage, alongside a noteworthy supporting cast that includes the likes of Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Catherine Keener, 8MM works fairly well as a dark and dingy mystery/thriller flick. Cage plays a surveillance specialist who comes across a reel of plastic film, and discovers its contents might point to something incredibly disturbing. This, naturally, sets him off on a surprising investigation.
There is an element of traveling further into an off-putting underworld as 8MM goes along, and it can be fairly involving and suspenseful at times. The acting is also quite strong, at least compared to how the film’s written and directed… in those areas, 8MM can be a little disappointing. It doesn’t come together quite well enough to be a masterpiece by any means, but the stuff that works is generally strong enough to make it recommendable for those who like their crime/thriller movies dark.
20
‘Zodiac’ (2007)
Directed by David Fincher
David Fincher has numerous movies that could be classified as psychological thrillers, but of them all, 2007’s Zodiac is probably the one that’s most comparable to Se7en. This is because narratively speaking, each follows a group of characters (two detectives in Se7en, and three different men in Zodiac) as they desperately search for an elusive killer who’s at large, and terrifying thousands—if not millions—of people in the process.
Of course, Se7en is fictitious, while Zodiac is based on a real-life case, and follows people who really did try and locate the infamous Zodiac Killer in and around San Francisco. It’s an incredibly compelling crime movie, and though it has similarities to Se7en, it ultimately becomes something quite different in its final act, given it chooses to explore obsession and the damage one can do when pursuing something too relentlessly. All in all, Zodiac is a massively compelling crime movie.
- Release Date
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March 2, 2007
- Runtime
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157 minutes
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Jake Gyllenhaal
Robert Graysmith
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Anthony Edwards
William Armstrong
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Robert Downey Jr.
Paul Avery
19
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
For as great as Se7en is, it ultimately has some tough competition when it comes to naming the best American crime/mystery movie of the 1990s, seeing as that decade also saw the release of The Silence of the Lambs. It’s an amazingly well-written movie, impeccably acted, and perhaps the best film or TV series yet to feature the character of Hannibal Lecter.
He’s played here by Anthony Hopkins in arguably the actor’s most well-known performance, with the plot centering around a young FBI agent (Jodie Foster) forming an uneasy alliance with a captive Lecter, who may be able to give her assistance in catching another killer who’s at large. Beyond the writing and acting, it’s also hard to fault the directing, visuals, music… and everything about The Silence of the Lambs, really. It’s just great all around, and one of the very best movies of the 1990s.
18
‘Insomnia’ (2002)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Insomnia might well be the most underrated movie directed by Christopher Nolan, with it sitting between two other films of his—Memento in 2000, and Batman Begins in 2005—that are more well-known. It’s more comparable to the former than the latter, being a psychological thriller about losing one’s grip on reality while also investigating a murder. Funnily enough, it’s probably one of the least mind-bending and most comprehensible movies Nolan’s directed.
It might not be as popular as other Nolan movies, due to it feeling a little more straightforward than some of his twistier, more mind-bending movies, and because he didn’t have a writing credit on the film either. But it is an engaging and well-made crime/thriller that scratches the same itch Se7en does, and also boasts a great cast that includes Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank.
17
‘Manhunter’ (1986)
Directed by Michael Mann
Another Hannibal Lecter movie (though here, he’s technically called “Lecktor,” and he’s played by Brian Cox), Manhunter is about using one serial killer to help catch another… sort of. Will Graham is the one who has to have that kind of uneasy dynamic with Lecter, and it’s all in service of catching a killer initially known only as the Tooth Fairy.
It’s a movie that sees Michael Mann in his wheelhouse, so it largely works and satisfies as a dark, intense, and grisly crime/thriller/horror movie. Manhunter might not quite be the gold standard as to how to make a serial killer film of this kind, but it is something that shows one how to make that kind of movie pretty well. It’s good stuff; feels of the 1980s, in some ways, but holds up when watched today in other ways.
16
‘Mystic River’ (2003)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
The focus is a little different for Mystic River, at least as far as movies about finding criminals go. There’s a grim tragedy that happens early on, and then it focuses on the psychological impact of some of the people who were left standing in its wake, so to speak. It’s never a happy movie, and then various things keep happening that make it continually more unhappy.
That’s keeping things vague, sure, but Mystic River has more of an impact the less you know about it going in, given the ways it wants to affect you. It’s one of the best things Clint Eastwood has ever directed, and functions immensely well as a brutal drama with big, showy performances, and a willingness to unpack some dark ideas and narrative beats.
15
‘Blood Simple’ (1984)
Directed by Joel Coen
The Coen Brothers made one hell of a directorial debut with Blood Simple, which is an exceedingly dark neo-noir movie about a criminal scheme spiraling helplessly out of control. There are only a few characters wrapped up in the chaos here, all kicked off when one man discovers another is having an affair with his wife. Revenge and murder follow, and everything goes wrong at a steady and inevitable pace.
Liken it to a car crash that’s hard to look away from, if you want, but even then, that’s unfair, since there are also good performances here to acknowledge. Plus, watching Blood Simple won’t typically hold up traffic. The Coen Brothers did go on to bigger and better things post-1984, but Blood Simple was an early indication of their talents, and stands as a uniquely grim and unsettling crime thriller.
14
‘The Poughkeepsie Tapes’ (2007)
Directed by John Erick Dowdle
If you like the horror side of Se7en and want something uncomfortable that focuses on said genre, and a little less overall on the crime/mystery side of things, then The Poughkeepsie Tapes might be worth a watch. It’s a film that wants to scare you, more than anything else, though there’s still something of a hunt for a killer here, given that the killer is the one behind the titular tapes, all of which show an immense amount of disturbing recorded footage.
There are better horror movies that are technically found footage out there, but The Poughkeepsie Tapes does enough within the basic confines of such a genre (or sub-genre) to generally work. It doesn’t linger and haunt the way the best crime/horror films might, but it’s decently spooky and morbid while it’s on, making it a solid enough watch.
13
‘The Hitcher’ (1986)
Directed by Robert Harmon
The Hitcher is really just a serial killer movie, at least in the sense that it’s not exactly focused on capturing a serial killer. Well, maybe it’s more accurate to say it’s a movie about surviving a dangerous killer: the titular hitcher, who’s played by Rutger Hauer in one of his most noteworthy non-Paul Verhoeven roles (they worked together a lot). And, honestly, he steals the show here.
Hauer makes for a terrifying villain who imbues the whole of The Hitcher with enough nervous energy and terror to sustain the whole thing, even if the narrative itself, once you break it down, feels a little slight. Like most good horror/thriller movies, it provides an experience that’s both exciting and nauseating, and time has done little to dilute the impact that some of the most alarming sequences have.
12
‘Gone Girl’ (2014)
Directed by David Fincher
Another unpredictable thriller directed by David Fincher, Gone Girl might not be as brutally dark as Se7en, but it still manages to be pretty surprising. It’s about a man who comes under scrutiny from the media and the law after his wife suddenly vanishes, with some believing that he could’ve murdered her, with him maintaining his innocence all the while.
To say more about the plot would undo much of what makes Gone Girl great, and even though it’s nearly 10 years old and is based on an even older book, it still contains secrets worth keeping. Perhaps that’s one of the best things one could say about a thriller, ensuring Gone Girl is a great one. By 2014, Fincher had proven he could essentially make great psychological thriller and mystery movies in his sleep, with Gone Girl being yet another indicator that few directors can tackle the genre as well as him.
11
‘Saw’ (2004)
Directed by James Wan
Having a one-word title that begins with “S” isn’t the only commonality shared between Se7en and Saw. The latter seems to have taken a decent amount of inspiration from the former, especially with so much of the 2004 film functioning like a police procedural. Of course, a good chunk of the sequels doubled down on the torture/psychological mind-game side of things, upping the amount of on-screen carnage considerably.
But the original Saw was mostly concerned with tension and a consistent sense of unease, centering on two men trapped in a terrible situation and the steps taken by a determined detective who wants to take down the mysterious figure who might be responsible for holding the two men captive. The film’s writer, Leigh Whannell, was upfront about taking inspiration from Se7en, and it should be noted that Saw still does enough to stand on its own and not feel entirely derivative.
10
‘Cure’ (1997)
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
A blend of crime, mystery, and horror genres that’s particularly loved on Letterboxd, Cure is a movie about a desperate and perhaps even futile search for answers behind a series of killings in Japan. Bucking the trend of many comparable horror/crime movies, there isn’t a single human culprit, because the various murders all have different perpetrators, and none of them seem to remember committing the oddly similar crimes in question.
Cure features a detective and psychologist tasked with looking into the entire strange case, and it therefore understandably functions well as a work of psychological horror. It’s also a film defined by how intense and unnerving the atmosphere throughout is, and everything adds up to a distinctive and dark film that’s ultimately as gripping as it is inevitably grim.
- Release Date
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December 27, 1997
- Runtime
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111 Minutes
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Kôji Yakusho
Det. Kenichi Takabe
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Kôji Yakusho
Kunio Mamiya
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Tsuyoshi Ujiki
Dr. Makoto Sakuma
-
Anna Nakagawa
Fumie Takabe
9
‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2011)
Directed by David Fincher
Another intense movie by David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo saw the director taking on a particularly chilly story adapted from the Swedish novel of the same name. It is more focused on being a crime/thriller movie than it is a work of horror. In fact, outside some confronting scenes, it wouldn’t really feel right to call The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a horror movie; more just a thriller that sometimes gets horrifying when it comes to content.
It pairs a journalist with a hacker, both working together to uncover an alarming series of events related to a disappearance that was first reported decades in the past. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo unfolds over a rather long runtime of over 2.5 hours, but mostly earns that kind of length and stays compelling throughout.
8
‘The Exorcist III’ (1990)
Directed by William Peter Blatty
In contrast to something like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Exorcist III is a mystery/horror movie that certainly emphasizes horror, but retains something of a crime-focused feel with a story about uncovering a serial killer. It does fit within the overall Exorcist series, but the narrative at hand helps it feel distinguished from the original film, and the other (generally less high-quality) entries in the series.
The Exorcist III revolves around Lieutenant William F. Kinderman, who was a supporting character in the first movie, and how he goes to great lengths to uncover the truth behind the infamous Gemini Killer. It’s certainly a slow burn, as far as mystery movies go, but it combines a well-executed plot with plenty of memorable scares to make for a surprisingly good sequel, and certainly the best Exorcist movie that isn’t the 1973 original.
7
‘Collateral’ (2004)
Directed by Michael Mann
While Se7en is mostly concerned with the people trying to catch a serial killer, Collateral forces viewers to go along with a man who kills frequently and without remorse, working as an assassin. Similarly, the film’s other main character, a cab driver, is made to go along with this violent lifestyle for a while, too, with the assassin seeking his assistance in getting from one location to the next.
It unfolds over a short period of time, keeping the tension high throughout and serving as a great character study for both men. Jamie Foxx is reliably good as the cab driver, but Tom Cruise’s villainous turn is perhaps the most surprising part of the movie, playing the killer shockingly well, especially considering the actor doesn’t take on purely antagonistic roles all that often (though he’s very good at it, as Collateral shows).
6
‘I Saw the Devil’ (2010)
Directed by Kim Jee-woon
There’s no shortage of great South Korean thrillers out there, especially within the past couple of decades. Of them all, I Saw the Devil is easily one of the best, and arguably one of the most extreme, too, with its dark story about a secret agent who goes to drastic lengths to track down and get revenge on a notorious serial killer after his fiancé is found murdered.
Once the plot really gets going, I Saw the Devil plays out like a constant—and ferocious—nightmare, going from one violent, stomach-churning scene to the next, all building up to an alarming climax. It’s a truly horrifying movie—perhaps one of the darkest, bleakest, and grittiest crime movies released in recent memory. Indeed, it’s one that might prove too extreme for some, but for those wanting something even darker and more intense than Se7en, it may be worth checking out.
