The Saw franchise will turn 20 next year. It's the fifth highest-grossing horror franchise of all time. Watching these simple torture horror films grow from no-budget directorial debut to sought-after blockbusters has been jaw-dropping. With Saw X, the franchise will finally remove the rod it made for its back and focus on its core competencies. It's almost unquestionably the best entry since the original, but it's still torturous in parts.
Kevin Greutert is back where he belongs. He's been with Saw since the beginning. He edited the first eight entries, directed Saw VI and 3D, and did both for Saw X. His choppy, disquieting, bizarre editing style is high on the long list of things that make this franchise iconic. Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger return after writing the last two films. The standards of Saw writing are subterranean, but they find ways to soar above and dig below them.
Set shortly after the events of Saw but before the events of Saw II, which actually places it after many of the events of every other film, Saw X finds John Kramer near the end of his battle with cancer. While fans have seen him torture doctors who mislabeled his charts, insurance agents who refused his coverage, his oncologist, a hospital orderly, and many other medical professionals, this entry finds him seeking unorthodox treatment. John spots a former terminal patient he knew looking fully recovered and asks for his secret. John learns of an experimental treatment by a controversial doctor. The miracle worker has gone into hiding, but his daughter, Cecilia Pederson, offers John a chance at the cure. He flies to Mexico and undergoes treatment. He leaves convinced he'll lead a long, happy life. John returns to the makeshift OR and discovers his surgery was faked, and he's been conned, along with a line of other terminal patients. He's happy to return to his hobby in pursuit of revenge.
Someone finally realized what every fan already knew. The secret weapon of the Saw franchise isn't its traps, gore, or premise. It's Tobin Bell as Jigsaw. He's the man who spent two weeks on a bathroom floor in a pool of blood. Bell has spoken publicly about his attachment to the role and his contributions to the franchise. During Saw IV, he reportedly offered advice that fixed a mechanical problem in one of the traps. His character died in Saw III, then appeared in every sequel except for Spiral. The writers tied the story in knots, trying to keep Tobin around. Saw X rests comfortably on his shoulders, giving him his most significant part in the franchise yet. All horror franchises gradually center the villain over the victims, but Saw X wants to push against the notion of Kramer as a bad guy.
Bell is expectedly excellent here. He's been inhabiting this role for almost two decades, consistently making a lot out of very little. His subtle choices in Saw X make him a more compelling, textured, and human character. The first half of the movie feels like an advertisement for antidepressants. Spoiler warning: the first trap in the film, the one from the poster, takes place in a dream sequence. It pushes up against one of Saw X's biggest tonal issues. John Kramer is, and has always been, a monstrous serial murderer. He can pontificate about choice and appreciation all he likes, but he's a hypocrite and a sociopath. Counting the video games, he's personally responsible for the death of 144 human beings. Why does Saw X want its audience to sympathize? Why does it view those who would dare violate his precious rules as if they were in the wrong? Kramer has the foresight of a god and the engineering knowledge to save countless lives, and he uses it to mutilate people for crimes like being a drug addict, smoking, and trying to stop him from killing so many people. As likable as Tobin Bell is, Kramer is imbued with sympathy he's done nothing to earn. This may be the first film franchise in which cancer is an unsung hero.
There's not much in the plot to discuss. The twists work well enough, even if most of them can be seen coming from a mile away. The traps vary wildly. A general surgical theme makes some of Jigsaw's games a bit too thoughtful. The trailers reveal a fake surgeon forced to cut out a chunk of his brain and a woman cutting off her leg with a Gigli saw. They don't show off sillier moments, like when a presumably intelligent con artist cuts out a dead woman's intestines to use them as a makeshift rope. YouTubers who enjoy pointing out obvious solutions will have a field day with this film, but that's nothing new. Cecilia Pederson, the film's antagonist, is one of the worst characters in the franchise so far. She stops being a rational human being after a point in a vague attempt to make Jigsaw look decent. Shawnee Smith is back as Amanda Young. She was excellent in the role when Amanda was a fragile, recovering drug addict, but she's gotten worse in every subsequent appearance. Every problem they excised is replaced with a new one, making for a bizarre experience.
Saw X tasked its franchise with a Jigsaw-like game. It had to hack off all of its vestigial plot threads in order to survive. It grits its teeth and does the deed, but like most of Jigsaw's victims, it's hard not to spend a lot of time wanting that limb back. Saw X is better than the other Saw sequels but worse than the original. It's a great showcase for Tobin Bell, even as it struggles to make his character seem appealing. Fans of the franchise or lovers of mindless gore will get their fill, but this isn't going to be the torture horror outing that changes anyone's mind. Saw X doesn't want to play a new game. It just wants to improve the old one enough to get by.
Saw X
John Kramer returns to his dark work after a group of con artists tricks him with a fake cancer cure.