David Fincher’s Se7en is one of the most highly-rated movies of all time
“What’s in the box?!” is one of the most quotable lines of all time, still being asked nearly 30 years later.
David Fincher’s Seven (often stylised as Se7en) came out when I was born in 1995, and I only got round to watching it for the first time last year.
Being a great film and all, the final twist is something that I never saw coming in a million years.
The crime thriller sees retired police detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) working on his last ever case. Reluctantly, he is forced to work with newly transferred David Mills, played by Brad Pitt, in what was one of his stand-out early roles.
Their target is serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) who is brutally killing people he thinks represents one of the seven deadly sins.
Slowly but surely, the detectives become increasingly friendly with one another after Mills’ character invites Somerset over for dinner where he befriends Mills’ wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow).
After a long and hard case reaches a close, Spacey’s character hands himself in and the pair think they’ve finally cracked it.
However, in the final act, the killer lures the detectives to a secure location, bringing along with him a box containing Tracy’s severed head.
The highly rated film helped launch Brad Pitt’s career (New Line Cinema)
Mills obviously loses it after releasing the head of his pregnant wife is in the box. He shoots and kills Spacey’s character, which was the killer’s wish all along.
Now, it has emerged that a prop of Paltrow’s head was created for Seven, and although we don’t see it in the movie, we do in another film.
Taking to TikTok, film expert Glittering Ghostwriter revealed that Paltrow’s head prop was actually used in the 2011 movie Contagion.
The film follows healthcare professionals, government officials and everyday people who find themselves in the midst of a pandemic as the CDC works to find a cure.
The likes of Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Paltrow, all star in the thriller.
This is what was in the box… (Warner Bros. Pictures)
“I mean, obviously in Se7en we technically know what is in the box. We just never physically see what’s in the box,” the TikToker explains.
“But that’s not because the box was empty. The creators of Se7en actually did intend to show us Gwyneth Paltrow’s severed head, but in the end, they decided it would build up more tension and mystery if we just never saw it.
“And I have to agree with the creators on this, but like I also am, personally, curious to see the prop that they created. And if you are too you can, as long as you watch the movie Contagion. Because the prop from Se7en was actually used in Contagion.
“In the scene where Gwyneth Paltrow’s character has an autopsy done on her, they have to like cut into her head.
“And since they already had a perfectly good unused prop of Gwyneth Paltrow’s severed head they just use that for the scene in Contagion.”
