They did a re-release of Seven in IMAX this past weekend, and even though it's not the most obvious contender for the format, I was able to go with my subscription, having only seen it on TV previously, and goddamn did it hold up.
The sound design, especially the music used in the opening titles, felt so grimy and real. The way the story unfolds as it slowly creeps towards an inevitable conclusion, even going so far as to have Somerset say "you know this isn't gonna have a happy ending."
There were a lot of details I picked up with seeing it at that scale; one moment that stood out to me is when they have dinner together, the moment Somerset sees Tracy, there's this momentary darting-of-the-eyes that almost looks like a brief moment of recognition of what's to come, or at least a grizzled detective who's seen enough to know that a young detective with a beautiful wife investigating a vicious serial killer isn't going to end well, and that there's a reason the people who end up in that field for so long generally don't have anyone that immediately close to them.
Compared to last year's Longlegs, which like many of you I was excited for based on the marketing - visually, it seemed creepy, the weird symbols, the grainy crime scene photos, the billboard with the phone number, it was all a brilliant way to get millions of people to watch something with a paper-thin story.
The biggest issue with the film is that it seems more intent on capturing the "ambience" and "vibe" of the genre, which it admittedly does well, but once you actually realize how thin the story is and how little there are to any of these characters, it begins to resemble the turkey from Christmas Vacation turning into dust.
There's a scene in Seven of the two detectives on the couch pouring over evidence; Mills says he's getting a second beer, and asks if Somerset wants one as well. Somerset says he'd prefer wine. Right away, this tells us not only did Mills start drinking first (which feels very in character), but that Somerset would prefer something slower, so as to not get too drunk while working. Mills proceeds to pour an absurd amount of wine into a tall, regular drinking glass, and only a minute later does Somerset pick up the glass, notice how full it is, and briefly look at it in befuddlement. Almost all of this exchange occurs visually.
There's more characterization in this scene than literally the entirely of Longlegs.
A phrase I've heard used in comedy (but that I also think applies to many forms of storytelling) is, "don't put a hat on a hat." Aka, the context I first heard it was in relation to writing a sketch for SNL that had Natalie Portman in it, where the initial setup was going to be something about a tutor teaching a student, and then halfway through they said "wait what if she's also her character from Star Wars", and then the whole thing fell apart. This kept ringing true the more Longlegs continued its descent into silly contrivances, with four separate plot elements that all feel as though they could've independently been the vessel for a story; the mother being forced to make a pact with the killer (which in itself is already absurd; the idea that maybe she would've turned a blind eye towards one as a way to save her daughter would've been interesting and slightly believable, but the idea that she ends up taking this gig for twenty years is laughably dumb).
We then proceed to learn the full extent of it, that the plan was for Longlegs to get the mother to delivery dolls to these families that had metal orbs in their heads that caused the families to go crazy and kill each other. It's like reheated Mike Flanagan gumbo. I was shocked at how not 'cool', smart or interesting this reveal felt in comparison to how sleek and Fincher-y the first hour of it felt. It's a cinematic Krabby Land.
Anyways, I don't mean for this to just be another "muh old is better" as much as it is a hunger for more films with real characters that act and behave like real people, who do things unrelated to the plot while they're waiting for something, who occasionally sit down and talk about their lives, and who don't just feel like sterile vessels for the delivery of plot devices. Something as simple as the wine exchange is all it takes to turn a basic scene of exposition into something more flavorful and 'complete'.
EDIT: A lot of people seem to be misunderstanding what I'm going for with this; I'm not simply saying "X is better than Y". Asking any film to live up to Seven would be impossible, I'm saying "X feels lacking in a way that Y does not, here's one example of how Y does this correctly".
The point of this was not to shit on Longlegs but to demonstrate how much a few very minor changes can turn what would be a boring exposition scene into something that gives us an entertaining insight into the differences between the two, which gives the experience a lot more meaning beyond just "atmosphere".
also muting this now because i wasn't expecting seven hundred notifications i thought this might get ten comments lmao