7 Days in Hell

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jake Szymanski directs. Craig Kief behind the camera. Dan Marks cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 43-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2Released 11 years ago.
• 3Directed by Jake Szymanski, shot by Craig Kief. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Editor Dan Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Andy Samberg and Kit Harington and Jon Hamm carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "The epic battle for epicness.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt3895884 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Craig Kief

Editing

Dan Marks

Production design

Todd Jeffery

Costume design

Joanna Konjevod

Makeup / hair

Linda Zirkus

Runtime

43 min · 0h 43m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

IMDB

7 Days in Hell (2015) ↗

Also by

Jake Szymanski

• 
  Brooklyn Nine-Nine

  2013 · ★ 8.2
• 
  John Mulaney: New in Town

  2012 · ★ 7.9
• 
  Jury Duty

  2023 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat

  2026 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Saturday Night Live

  1975 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Tour de Pharmacy

  2017 · ★ 6.7

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Reno2016-11-23
  ★ 9/10

  It wasn't even a match. It was something else. This is a 45 minute mockumentary made for the television that was aired on HBO last year. Directed by a some television director, who recently made his feature film comedy, 'Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates'. It is an American film, but the story takes place in England. This is the story of two top tennis players who class for a big match that lasts for the 7 days. You heard me right, the film reveals how the game was dragged for a week and in between that, some flashback clips and interviews were attached. The film sets in the 2001, but when you look at the settings, particularly the players' appearances that gives the impression of the 70s or maybe the 80s. Whatever, it was so good, miles ahead to those real comedies from the recent time. The jokes were amazing, sometime I laughed loudly out of the control. I think they designed this story and its characters so well. The actors, totally nailed it. I usually like Andy Samberg's films and his performances, but for the first time I liked him for real. If you ask me, I would say this is his best film so far I'd seen. Sadly, it was not a theatrical film. Looks like the director aimed it for a short film, as he has made plenty of them prior to this. But I appreciated him for making it as an independent television episode with a fine length where he developed the story and its character brilliantly. "This is like nothing I've ever seen. Spectacular! Absolutely spectacular!" Less than an hour, but the entire film was shot within the three days of time without compromising on the production quality. The actors too were not amateurs while displaying their sporting skills. Since it is a comedy, that could have been neglected, but really well done drafting those scenes accurately. Recently Andy Samberg did another mockumentary on the music theme called 'Popstar; Never Stop Never Stooping', but looking at this one and its success, there won't be any surprise it is going to be turned into a feature film-come-mockumentary. Of course the preference was given more to Andy's role, but Kit Harrington was equally amazing. He's in a very important role and I think between these two, it reminded me the Nadal and Federrer taking on each other. There are some guest appearances which were very crucial for this tale to narrate what it wanted to tell in the most comedic way as much as possible. So there's no way you end up unsatisfied, but you should be open minded for that. I was surprised by the overall film, Because I was not expecting it to be so smart, at a time funny as well. Definitely this film is for the grownups, because there are many adult jokes with unexpected nudities and sexes. But who cares, if you are old enough, just enjoy what it offers. From the great title to the wonderful performances to the beautiful writing, this is definitely a must see. I hope you won't miss, especially if you are a tennis fan, you would find it a lot funnier than the others. My final word is, recommended! 8.5/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  HBO Films

  US

• BU

  Buss Co.

  US

• MU

  Murray Miller "Entertainment"

  US

• YO

  Young Sandwich

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerMurray Miller
• Production DesignTodd Jeffery
• Executive ProducerDavid Bernad
• Executive ProducerAndy Samberg
• Line ProducerMonica Monique
• Co-Executive ProducerJonathan Buss
• CastingHayley Marcus Simpson
• EditorDan Marks
• Associate ProducerDevin Das
• Art DirectionPatrick William Muller
• Costume DesignJoanna Konjevod
• Makeup & HairLinda Zirkus

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• sports
• tennis
• tennis player
• mockumentary

Release history · US

When it landed

• Digital2015-07-08· HBO Now
• TV2015-07-11· HBO

Also known as

International titles

• Sept jours en enferFR