Saw X Movie Review: A delightfully indulgent gore-fest 

In a time inundated with family-friendly blockbuster cinema, with its VFX-smothered visuals, quip-per-minute screenplays, and righteous heroes, Saw X stands refreshingly anachronistic. It brings us back to the early 2000s when mid-budget thrillers— with unapologetic gore and plentiful violence that seldom strains your empathy—also fell under the ‘popcorn entertainment’ category, alongside superhero films. Saw X gracefully carves out the aesthetics of an early 2000 thriller in more ways than one. Whether it is the colour grading, the snap zoom shots, the minimal setting, and the sheer volume of blood on screen, it is all so quintessentially early 20’s thriller. 

Director: Kevin Greutert

Cast: Tobin Bell, Synnove Macody Lund, Paulette Hernández, Octavio Hinojosa, Renata Vaca, Shawnee Smith

The film begins with the central antagonist of the franchise, the serial killer John Kramer (Jigsaw), who is now worn down by age and terminal illness. An imaginary Jigsaw kill is brushed off in an early scene, as an obligatory reminder of the film’s violent core. We then wade through a major chunk where an elderly John Kramer goes on a quest to cure his cancer. In this section of the film, there is neither a sense of foreboding to warn the audience nor extravagant efforts to set up a major twist. The first major twist, that becomes the inciting incident, is played out flatly, which comes off refreshingly plain. With every single character that Kramer meets on his quest to find a cure ends up being a warm, benevolent angel, it is clear we’re being gently rolled towards a roller-coaster drop. And that drop comes at the moment when Kramer realises he has been conned by these 'benevolent angels’. Luckily for us, the elderly man they manage to con happens to be the jigsaw killer, who is both a serial killer and an engineering genius.

The creative death traps, or ‘games’ as Kramer likes to call them, are the flesh of the franchise. It is what we are in for, and if you are someone who missed gore in mainstream cinema lately, then this should more than suffice. The makers thankfully refrain from making the contraptions comically extravagant, which could have easily made them look like a Rube Goldberg machine. While the kills are certainly creative and tastefully repulsive, there was room for some boundary-pushing. Especially considering how the kills reach their apex of squirm-inducing gore towards the middle of the film and gradually decline in impact towards the end. However, as is the case with such thrillers, the violence and blood don’t translate nearly as much as the dread that the actors do. As a gory death draws near with every passing second of a stopwatch and forced to perform brutal acts of violence against oneself, the victims need to show mortifying fear and unimaginable pain for the emotions to effectively transfer to the audience. With a combination of effective direction and competent performances, Saw X manages to draw out those specific emotions necessary for the thriller elements to work. 

However, while not serving to fulfil the essentials of its genre, the film never even tries to hide its rough edges. The twist at the end—especially with the change in how the characters behave—show a sudden drop in the quality of the writing. This is even more highlighted by the shallow attempts at the end to make the already unlikeable victims even more loathsome in a desperate attempt to make the final kill cathartic. Tobin Bell, who plays John Kramer (Jigsaw) offers so much by doing so little. With his raspy, imposing voice—which is a staple part of the Saw franchise—Bell wonderfully punctuates every chilling moment, like when Jigsaw elaborates the rules of the game to his victims. With no egregious displays of anger or rage, Bell exudes stoic malevolence, convincing you that a frail old man, with just months to live, has a twisted mind and the conviction of a cold-blooded serial killer. 

Saw X works if you know what you’re getting into, which is to see a group of people get killed in distinctly creative ways. It is fun because the film doesn’t take itself seriously enough, which stops you from developing empathy for the characters. Which in turn frees you up and lets you enjoy the gore-fest. A liberating indulgence in the darkest corner of our minds.