10 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.

10 ‘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.

Watch on Showtime

9 ‘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.

Watch on Max

8 ‘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.

Rent on Apple TV

7 ‘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’s 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.

Rent on Apple TV

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.

Watch on Peacock

5 ‘Nightcrawler’ (2014)

Directed by Dan Gilroy

Like Se7en, Nightcrawler is also classifiable as a neo-noir movie, and goes to some extremely dark places, though has an overall very different premise. It follows a man named Lou Bloom, and the increasingly desperate lengths he’ll go to for the purposes of capturing crime scene footage that he can then sell to a news station.

It’s a movie that’s unafraid to play out with a cast of very flawed characters, and it certainly has an overall pessimistic attitude toward the media and perhaps humanity as a whole. Despite this, Nightcrawler is incredibly engaging and well-paced, and for being such a bleak yet stylish and breakneck movie, it’ll likely appeal to those who liked Se7en. As a character study of a particularly dangerous man – played with immense success by the always dedicated Jake Gyllenhaal – it’s gripping stuff.

Watch on Starz

4 ‘Vengeance Is Mine’ (1979)

Directed by Shōhei Imamura

A Japanese crime film that would’ve felt even more shocking when it was first released in the late 1970s, Vengeance Is Mine is an underrated movie centered around a serial killer. Said killer’s name is Iwao Enokizu, and the movie presents his exploits in a very matter-of-fact way that arguably stands to make his on-screen crimes even more disturbing, making this a phenomenal Japanese movie that, while not super famous, does have a good level of acclaim to its name.

He’s also constantly on the run throughout the movie, with the police always on his tail and attempting to put a stop to his violent crime spree. That whole dynamic – and the brutality of the film – gives it some similarities to Se7en, though Vengeance Is Mine does admittedly stand out for making the killer the main character, given things are shown primarily from his point of view.

Watch on Criterion

3 ‘Prisoners’ (2013)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Given he also starred in the aforementioned Zodiac and Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal seems to be an actor who’s well-suited to dark crime/thriller movies. He also stars in Prisoners alongside Hugh Jackman, with this 2013 film being about a father going to desperate lengths to find his young daughter after she goes missing one day.

It was directed by Denis Villeneuve, who’s no stranger to dark psychological thrillers (at least when he’s not directing sci-fi blockbusters like Blade Runner 2049 and Dune). He’s also no stranger to directing some of the best movies in recent memory, especially throughout the 2010s. Prisoners is a movie that keeps the tension high throughout, is emotionally intense, and is willing to explore some dark themes while telling a story that sees its characters go to similarly dark places.

Watch on Netflix

2 ‘Memories of Murder’ (2003)

Directed by Bong Joon-ho

Bong Joon-ho‘s Memories of Murder was not the acclaimed director’s first film, but it was the first movie of his to get significant attention on an international scale. It’s one of the best films the South Korean director’s ever made, which is truly saying something given the high quality of his work over the past couple of decades.

Memories of Murder has a narrative inspired by true events, and follows two detectives investigating a series of brutal murders in Hwaseong during the 1980s. As far as crime movies go, it’s up there with some of the bleakest, but the hopelessness and desperation of the narrative and its characters is largely what makes Memories of Murder so impactful and ultimately memorable. As far as South Korean crime movies go, Memories of Murder is easily one of the very best.

Rent on Apple TV

1 ‘The House That Jack Built’ (2018)

Directed by Lars von Trier

There are plenty of shocking and disturbing movies directed by Lars von Trier, with 2018’s The House That Jack Built arguably being his most confronting, at least when it comes to violence. It’s an unflinching look at the life (and mind) of a serial killer named Jack, as he revisits a series of grisly crimes he committed over a 12-year period.

The movie has a very dark sense of humor at times, but not to the point where it ever diminishes the horror inherent within the story it tells. The House That Jack Built is an incredibly interesting and disquietingly engrossing movie, and certainly pushes the boundaries as far as crime/thriller movies go. Like I Saw The Devil, it’s probably only recommendable to people who felt they could handle something like Se7en reasonably well. In fact, it’s even possible to argue that The House That Jack Built is somehow even darker.

Watch on Hulu

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