Gwyneth Paltrow poked fun at herself for her Halloween costume when she dressed as her character from Se7en - with her severed head in a box. One of the great final twists in modern movie history, Se7en’s stunner of an ending shocked audiences as much as any during its time. The 1995 film propelled director David Fincher to greater levels of fame, and its final scene helped make it one of the more memorable ’90s thrillers.
The moment where Det. Somerset (Morgan Freeman) opens the box, knocked back by the sight of the head of Paltrow’s Tracy, was arguably made more disturbing because of what it didn’t show. Tracy’s decapitated head is never seen, as instead the killer “John Doe” (Kevin Spacey) breaks the bone-chilling news to Det. Mills (Brad Pitt) while a mortified Somerset rushes to keep his partner away. But Paltrow decided to honor the morbidly iconic scene by showing fans what her head in the box may have looked like.
Check out the costume in the photo below, via Paltrow’s official Instagram page. Pictured with boyfriend Brad Falchuk, who apparently went as John Doe, Paltrow dressed normally and simply cut a hole in the side of a cardboard box and slapped a big “Fragile” sticker on it.
A post shared by Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow) on Oct 29, 2017 at 10:18am PDT
The only way Paltrow could have made the costume any better was to paint her face like a corpse, but the idea was clever enough that she didn’t even need it. She’s made headlines for “spoiling” the ending of Se7en with the outfit, but it’s hard to fault her when the movie came out 22 years ago and she’s been in dozens of others since then.
Clearly, the actress knows how famous her head in a box has become as Se7en as aged. Amazingly, the climactic twist almost didn’t happen and the movie’s ending could have been more formulaic. But Fincher, Pitt, and others fought to have the bad guy to win, which was so subversively gut-wrenching that Se7en probably does not rise to unforgettable levels without it. It’s incredible that, ostensibly, not many others have even thought of this costume idea.
Those unfamiliar with Se7en may be spoiled by Paltrow’s costume, but hopefully that just means they give the movie a shot. Fincher’s classic leaves a lingering chill even after multiple viewings, and the revelation of Tracy’s head in the box stings every time due to how effectively the director built the tension up to that point. It’s still one of the actress’ most infamous movie moments and one worth honoring as the moment that made Se7en one of the best serial killer movies.
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Source: Gwyneth Paltrow
