The Saw franchise is one I hold near and dear to my heart, mainly because it was my gateway into loving the horror genre. Throughout the highs and many lows the franchise has endured since its debut in 2004, the series has always remained a guilty pleasure, primarily because of its violent traps or ludicrous plot twists. The last two attempts to reboot the franchise—2017’s Jigsaw and the Chris Rock-starring Spiral in 2019—were very underwhelming attempts to modernize the series, whether it be slicker production or A-list actors. For the tenth instalment, Saw X decides to take a step backward instead, and it’s all the better for it.
Taking place just 3 weeks after the events of the first movie, we follow series villain John Kramer/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) as he is coming to terms with his terminal brain cancer diagnosis. One day, he is notified by an associate at his support group of an experimental form of treatment that could potentially treat and cure him. With a renewed sense of hope, Kramer travels to Mexico and meets with Dr. Cecilia Pedersen (Synnøve Macody Lund) for treatment in a secret clinic. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be an elaborate con. Kramer ultimately sets out to exact revenge on Cecilia and her team with a whole new set of gruesome traps for each of them to endure.
The Saw franchise’s greatest tool and biggest crutch is its level of dedication to its own convoluted timeline, with the later sequels (primarily in Saws 4-7) drawing on increasingly ridiculous flashbacks in order to justify keeping the John Kramer character on screen, who died way back in Saw III. By setting it all the way in the past, Saw X wisely sidesteps the timeline stranglehold and becomes a mostly standalone story.
Even though it’s the longest film in the franchise at just under 2 hours, Saw X feels remarkably lean. It helps that there isn’t a generic detective B-plot this time around. There are still plenty of references to the other films (one quietly hilarious moment involves Kramer drawing sketches for traps that would come to fruition later in the series), but it’s much easier for newcomers to come in without being completely lost in the baggage.
“The enhanced focus on character depth doesn’t mean it’s skimped out on the gore, which Saw X definitely delivers in spades.”
A major surprise is how much Saw X legitimately works as a character piece for the most part. The first act is mostly bloodless, and instead focuses on Kramer dealing with his illness. It speaks to how captivating Tobin Bell has continued to be in this role from the inception. His calm and collected demeanour, commanding voice and twisted sense of justice are all still utterly compelling 20 years later.
In addition, some of the movie’s best moments are the scenes where we get to really see the interactions between Kramer and his apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith). It was a dynamic that was woefully cut short in the series, so to see it in full form here was fantastic, even if they both look hilariously older than the movies it takes place between.
“A major surprise is how much Saw X legitimately works as a character piece for the most part.”
The enhanced focus on character depth doesn’t mean it’s skimped out on the gore, which Saw X definitely delivers in spades. The traps are just as gleefully gross as they’ve ever been. There’s a proper level of griminess that the last 2 films lacked, and a few of these traps are sure to be high in fans’ rankings. One trap in particular—where one of the con artists had to dig out a piece of their own brain matter to survive—I joked was probably worse than the fate they would get if they lost. It helps that since the victims here are a group of con artists, it’s much easier to be on Jigsaw’s side than some of the other sequels, where some characters were victims over the mildest slights. Credit to Synnøve Macody Lund for fully leaning into the over-the-top villainy of her character, especially in the later act of the film.
The only real major downside, I would say, is the signature plot twist this time around (without spoiling), it feels like it relies a bit heavily on what can really be described as pure convenience. There are certain elements where you go, “There is no way he could have predicted this and that happening”. It’s not enough to fully disconnect from the movie, but it is still pretty noticeable. That being said, all of that washes away whenever Charlie Clouser’s now-iconic “Hello Zepp” theme plays and all the cards are finally revealed in the finale.
If you were to tell me at the beginning of the year that the better “tenth sequel in a franchise” between Fast X and Saw X would be the latter, I would have laughed. Funny enough, that’s exactly what happened. This back-to-basics approach helped the latest chapter in the hyper-violent soap opera be not only the best Saw movie in a decade, but I would argue it’s the second best in the franchise behind Saw II. It’s still not a franchise that’s for everybody, but for the die-hard Saw fans, it’s hard to see anyone being disappointed this time around.
