Review: Saw X (2023)
A Saw to be Seen.
The One About Grifters Selling False Hope
Of all the films in the Saw franchise, Saw X feels the most like an actual movie. You know, the moving picture shows that have things like character and narrative structure. It’s a refreshing change of pace.
Within the first five minutes, I emotionally identified with John Kramer more deeply than every other character in the nine preceding films combined. It’s a relatively small feat considering “characters” in Saw films are usually just bags of flesh and blood waiting to be sliced open.
Low though the bar may be, I was pleasantly surprised to find Saw X intent on raising it. It’s the longest film in the series, by far, but it earns its punishing runtime. We don’t dive directly into graphic torture. Instead, the first act is spent with John Kramer as he grapples with the hopelessness of a terminal prognosis.
The film’s events occur between Saw and Saw II in the (absolutely batshit) Saw chronology. Intent on fighting his illness to the end, John seeks unapproved medical treatment from The Pedersen Project. The Pedersen Project, founded by Dr. Finn Pedersen, promises to cure the cancer that Big Pharma would rather remain incurable for perpetual profiteering.
It’s a great name for a grifter, Dr. Pederson — not to be confused with Dr. Jordan Peterson, the famous Canadian right-wing grifter who shills transphobia to fund his benzo addiction. A coincidental homophone, I’m sure.
I digress.
Dr. Finn’s daughter, Dr. Ceilia Pedersen, leads the treatment center with blonde hair and a husky voice evocative of Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes. The film even condemns Big Pharma’s profiteering off of opioid addiction, with Jigsaw accusing Dr. Pedersen of “making money off of people’s suffering” while “no healing was happening.” It’s not as blunt as Saw VI’s screed against privatized health insurance, which I wrote about in last week’s post. Saw X benefits from some semblance of subtlety in a series that is otherwise anything but subtle.
Saw X offers plenty of graphic mutilation for hungry gorehounds, but the film shows relative restraint as it sets up its plot and characters. I should be clear, the restraint is purely structural. When Jigsaw exacts his pound of flesh, he spares no prisoners in what may be his most gruesome game.
However, to get to the gory goods, viewers must endure about forty-five minutes of narrative setup. That means a significant portion of the film doesn’t take place in a grimy warehouse crawling with hepatitis. It also means that some of the less patient patrons of the Saw franchise may consider Saw X to be “the most boringest.”
Inevitably, some part of the fanbase will complain whenever a franchise does something different. In that regard, Saw X may be to The Book of Saw what The Last Jedi was to Star Wars’ Skywalker Saga — installments bold enough to do something different.
(Sidebar: The Last Jedi is one of the best Star Wars movies. Fuckin’ fight me.)
The horrendously obtrusive editing style of the original Saw films has calmed-the-fuck-down, which I greatly appreciated. Only a few sequences in this movie are migraine-inducing. This stylistic shift allows the camera time to linger on some truly ghastly mutilation, and nearly every trap had me squirming in my seat.
I cannot say that watching Saw X is fun. It’s grueling, but I certainly enjoyed myself! It may be the series’ most brutal, and it’s certainly the funniest. Saw X doesn’t take itself too seriously, even when things are seriously gross. Turns out a little levity goes a long way during disembowelment.
I’d go so far as to say that Saw X is the best film in the franchise. How much weight that statement carries is up to you and your existing opinions of the Saw films.
As the tenth installment in a supremely alienating horror franchise, Saw X isn’t poised to garner many new fans. However, if you’re a fan wondering if Saw X is worth seeing, it is — more so than any of the others.
On the tenth try, the Saw franchise has finally produced something that almost definitely passes for a movie.
Let’s hope they quit while they’re ahead.
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Until next week, film freaks.