crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
streaming television
Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...
series, based on the Russian film '' The Major'' written and directed by
Yuri Bykov
__NOTOC__
Yuri Anatolyevich Bykov (Russian: Ю́рий Анато́льевич Бы́ков; born August 15, 1981) is a Russian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing the films '' The Major'', '' The Fool'' and the T ...
, that premiered on February 23, 2018, on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. The series, which is created, executive produced, and showrun by
Veena Sud
Veena Cabreros-Sud (pronounced "Sood") is a Canadian-born American television writer, director, and producer. She is best known for developing the American television drama '' The Killing'', which is based on the Danish series '' Forbrydelsen (T ...
, follows the people involved in investigating the death of a Black teenager and his family as they reel after the loss. On April 18, 2018, Netflix confirmed there would not be a second season, deeming it a limited series.
Premise
Peter Jablonski, a white
Polish-American
Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...
Jersey City Police Department (named "New Jersey Police" in the movie) Narcotics Detective, accidentally hits and critically injures Brenton Butler—a Black teenager from
Beau Knapp
Beau Christian Knapp (born April 17, 1989) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' The Signal'' (2014), '' Run All Night'' (2015), and '' Southpaw'' (2015). Knapp portrayed a lead villain in '' Death Wish'' (2018), the sixth install ...
Russell Hornsby
Russell Hornsby (born May 15, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Edward "Eddie" Sutton on ABC Family's '' Lincoln Heights'', as Luke on the HBO drama ''In Treatment'', as Detective Hank Griffin on the NBC series ''Grimm'', a ...
as Isaiah Butler
*
Raúl Castillo
Raúl Castillo Jr. (born August 30, 1977) is an American actor and playwright. He is known for his acting roles in ''Amexicano'' and ''Cold Weather'' and his role as Richie Donado Ventura in the HBO series ''Looking'' and its subsequent series ...
Zackary Momoh
Zackary Momoh (born July 1988) is a British actor. He began his career in theatre and made his feature film debut in ''A United Kingdom'' (2016). On television, he is known for his roles in the Netflix crime drama '' Seven Seconds'' (2018) and th ...
as Seth Butler
*
Michelle Veintimilla
Michelle Veintimilla (born November 11, 1992) is an Ecuadorian American film, television, and theater actress. She played the role of villain Firefly in the second and fourth seasons of the Fox television series '' Gotham''. Recently, she port ...
as Marie Jablonski
*
Regina King
Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...
as Latrice Butler
Recurring
* Corey Champagne as Kadeuce Porter
*
Nadia Alexander
Nadia Alexander (born April 5, 1994 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American actress. She has performed in several television series, including '' The Sinner'' (2017) and '' Seven Seconds'' (2018)''.'' She won the award for Best Actress in a U. ...
as Nadine MacAllister
* Coley Mustafa Speaks as Messiah
* Adriana DeMeo as Teresa
* Jeremy Davidson as James Connelly
* Sawyer Niehaus as Maggie Rinaldi
*
Gretchen Mol
Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ...
On October 18, 2016, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a one season series order consisting of 10 episodes. The series was created by
Veena Sud
Veena Cabreros-Sud (pronounced "Sood") is a Canadian-born American television writer, director, and producer. She is best known for developing the American television drama '' The Killing'', which is based on the Danish series '' Forbrydelsen (T ...
with Gavin O'Connor attached to direct. Sud and O’Connor were expected to executive produce alongside Lawrence Bender, Kevin Brown, and Alex Reznik. Production companies involved with the show include Fox 21 TV Studios.
On April 18, 2018, Netflix announced they were not renewing the series for a second season.
Casting
On October 25, 2016, it was announced that David Lyons and Beau Knapp had joined the show as series regulars. On November 17, 2016, Russell Hornsby, Raul Castillo, and
Zackary Momoh
Zackary Momoh (born July 1988) is a British actor. He began his career in theatre and made his feature film debut in ''A United Kingdom'' (2016). On television, he is known for his roles in the Netflix crime drama '' Seven Seconds'' (2018) and th ...
joined the main cast. Later that month, Michael Mosley and Patrick Murney were cast as series regulars as well. On December 1, 2016, it was confirmed that
Regina King
Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...
had been cast in the series regular role of Latrice Butler. A few weeks later,
Clare-Hope Ashitey was cast in the series' lead role of K.J. Harper.
Release
On January 24, 2018, Netflix released the official trailer for the series and a collection of first look images.
Reception
Critical response
The series has received a positive reception from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the series is certified fresh, holding a 78% approval rating with an average rating of 6.02 out of 10 based on 44 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Seven Seconds'' is undermined by unlikable characters with somewhat predictable arcs, but its grim reflections of societal and racial division are brought to life by able performers and a fearless overall narrative."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 68 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."