The new Saw X film is one of the best Saw movies we have seen in a while. It was directed by Kevin Greutert, who also made other Saw movies like Spiral and The Final Chapter. This movie felt like a last-ditch effort to save the franchise from its horrible reception from critics, which luckily it succeeds in.
In Saw X, after speaking with a fellow chemotherapy member, John Kramer is told that a miracle cure was found that can save his life, but he’s required to go to Mexico to receive it. After going to Mexico to get this treatment, he finds out that it’s a giant con. He and multiple other participants are put to the test with various traps.
The story takes place after Saw I and before Saw II and has a lot of twists and turns that make it very satisfying to watch. The movie allows you to sympathize with the con artists without finding them completely likable. John is the protagonist throughout the film, but in addition to following him, it heavily focuses on his relationships with people like the soccer boy or Amanda.
Cinematographer Nick Matthews said, “John is absolutely the protagonist in this movie. […] He’s a man who’s ill. He’s a guy who was looking to extend his life. And in this process of him thinking he’s getting his life extended, sh*t goes down. There it is, but he’s absolutely the hero of this movie.” Making John the main protagonist makes this story feel a lot more personal compared to the other movies.
Overall, the characters in Saw X feel very real, except for the main antagonist, who is still a fun character. It’s nice being able to see Shawnee Smith be able to play Amanda Young again, and it was interesting to see how, before the character became fully an expert on being Jigsaw’s apprentice, she had some level of sympathy for another drug addict. The main antagonist does feel laughably evil, and it doesn’t feel like her actions are something an actual person would do, but this character did make the second half of the movie very tense.
The main appeal of this movie is the traps, which I think are a very mixed bag. I won’t spoil who the trap was for or what the outcome of the tests was, but I will explain some of the traps. With how it’s used in the movie, the eye vacuum trap feels wasted. It wouldn’t be that big of a deal if it wasn’t heavily promoted through almost all of the movie’s marketing. Although every other trap was really good, like the brain surgery and how the trap has a good callback to earlier in the movie, The effects of the blood in the movie are also really good and made me flinch a few times. The ending of most of the traps was kind of bad, and it feels like the victims were cheated from completing their tests, especially Gabriela.
To wrap things up, Saw X is a good movie to watch if you’re a fan of either the Saw franchise or horror movies in general. If you don’t like horror movies or like seeing a lot of bloody scenes, then this movie will not be an enjoyable experience for you. But otherwise, this film was enjoyable.
