Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
65
(22 sources)
65
(22 sources)
-
90
Variety
This weirdly off-kilter suspenser goes well beyond the usual police procedural or killer-on-a-rampage yarn due to a fine script, striking craftsmanship and a masterful performance by Morgan Freeman. Read Full Review » -
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
It's intriguing, appalling, savvy, nasty, grossly unsettling -- you may not like what you see, but you'll definitely be affected by the sight. Read Full Review » -
88
-
80
Chicago Reader
One can already tell that this film is on to something special during the opening credits. Read Full Review » -
80
-
78
-
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Placing style above coherence, Seven glosses over plot points and shows a weakness for cheap, lurid effects. Read Full Review » -
75
ReelViews
While Seven lacks the cleverness of the superior "Usual Suspects," it's strong enough to hold its own against most other thrillers. Read Full Review » -
75
Entertainment Weekly
This homicide thriller has a tantalizingly morbid atmosphere of unease. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
A decidedly medieval enterprise, darker in text and tone than a Gothic cathedral by the light of the moon. Read Full Review » -
70
Rolling Stone
It's not the identity of the killer that gives Seven its kick -- it's the way Fincher raises mystery to the level of moral provocation. Read Full Review » -
70
Los Angeles Times
Noticeable skill has gone into the making of Seven, but it's hard to take much pleasure in that. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
A gruesome detective-thriller about a serial killer who ices egregious offenders of the seven deadly sins, portends an unpalatable combination of formulaic writing and unmitigated nastiness. Read Full Review » -
70
-
63
Chicago Tribune
It's a misfire--but a fascinating, magnetic misfire, a film full of first-rate talents forced into absurdity, struggling to bring believability to nonsense. [22 September 1995, Friday, p. C] Read Full Review » -
63
USA Today
Director David Fincher shovels on more gloom than even the serial killer genre can sustain in the murkily moody, but self-defeating, Seven. Read Full Review » -
60
Film.com
Watching Seven is like cracking open a safe, only to find it crawling with eels Read Full Review » -
60
Time
It is very tiresome peering through the gloom trying to catch a glimpse of something interesting, then having to avert one's eyes when it turns out to be just another brutally tormented body. Read Full Review » -
50
Newsweek
A style so chic, studied and murky it resembles a cross between a Nike commercial and a bad Polish art film. Read Full Review » -
50
San Francisco Examiner
While the premise is intriguing, the movie is gluey, bumbling and singularly un-thrilling. Read Full Review » -
40
-
30
The New York Times
Not even bags of body parts, a bitten-off tongue or a man forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh keep it from being dull. [22 September 1995, p. C18] Read Full Review »
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