Warning: there may be mild spoilers ahead as this is the 10th film of the series.
The horror genre tends to follow trends of remakes, reboots or more recently 're-quels' like Halloween (2018) and Scream (2021). It came as no surprise when Lionsgate released an eighth Saw film, Jigsaw, back in 2017 adding another chapter to Jigsaw's games. This was followed by Spiral: From the Book of Saw in 2021 starring mega-fan Chris Rock but both of these failed critically but had a good audience reception. To me, Spiral just had something crucial missing that made it feel like a more generic horror. That missing jigsaw piece is Jigsaw himself, played by Tobin Bell. At 81 years of age, Bell is still killing it as the horror movie icon with Saw X placing his story centre stage.
'Tobin Bell is still killing it as the horror movie icon with Saw X placing his story centre stage.
Set in-between the original Saw (2004) and Saw II (2005), the film follows John Kramer (Jigsaw) as he travels to Mexico to try an experimental cancer treatment which is too good to be true, leading to Kramer having to teach a group of con artists a brutal lesson. Kramer is a compelling main character to follow in this film and audiences will end up rooting for him in the end. He is joined by Shawnee Smith returning as Amanda Young, who got the Courtney Cox in Scream 3 treatment with her hair and yet still rocked it.
Saw is best known for the gory and somewhat creative traps that Jigsaw puts his victims in and Saw X does not disappoint on that front. The eyeball trap that features in the marketing was as cool as expected and the main traps were brilliantly gory that made me put down the popcorn momentarily. I do think though that sometimes the traps are that creative that audiences have to see what it does, undermining the hope audiences have that the victims will get out of it.
The main traps were brilliantly gory and made me put down the popcorn momentarily
Speaking of victims, because of the premise that these victims have often done something wrong and do not value their lives (the reasons why has often been criticised), audiences struggle to connect with them particularly if they are despicable people. Saw X does a good job of making you resent yet root for these con artists, one of whom is an addict like Amanda.
Saw X returns to the early days of the franchise to add a higher-budget chapter that fleshes out the character development of John and Amanda and it works. Surely a Saw XI will be in the works, but where will it fit in the timeline? Will it flesh out the characters from Spiral (unlikely)? Will we return to the grimmest bathroom ever (like the post-credit scene of Saw X)? Will there be a conflict between the Jigsaw apprentices as many theorised? Saw X is a fun watch but maybe don't eat when you watch.