Saw X (2023)
Director: Kevin Greutert
Screenwriters: Peter Goldfinger, Josh Stolberg
Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, Michael Beach, Joshua Okamoto, Octavio Hinojosa, Paulette Hernandez, Jorge Briseño
When James Wan and Leigh Whannell introduced Saw in 2004, they created a new touchstone for modern horror and introduced John Kramer — the Jigsaw Killer — as one of the genre’s most recognizable antagonists. Over nearly two decades the franchise used flashbacks, recordings and the actions of Kramer’s apprentices to keep his presence alive even after his apparent demise. Saw X, set months before Saw II, marks a notable turn: for the first time in many installments the series places John Kramer at the center of the story rather than as a looming force in the background.
John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is a retired civil engineer whose crusade against societal immorality is complicated by a terminal brain tumour. Desperate to extend his life and continue his mission, he seeks treatment from an experimental clinic run by Cecelia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund) outside Mexico City. The clinic promises a cutting-edge cure, but Kramer soon discovers he and many other patients have been deceived — his condition is still terminal. With time dwindling, Kramer teams up with his former apprentice Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) and captures those responsible for the scam, subjecting them to a sequence of traps designed to expose their corruption and force them to confront the consequences of their actions.
Saw X stands out among recent franchise entries because it attempts to interrogate Kramer’s philosophy rather than simply presenting him as a one-note villain. The film stays mostly within his perspective, encouraging viewers to witness his internal struggle and the ways doubt begins to infiltrate his worldview. Tobin Bell delivers a wearied performance that lends the character a fragile humanity, even as his actions remain monstrous. The result is a film that occasionally asks whether a man who kills in the name of moral reform can be held accountable to his own standards.
The narrative leans more heavily into slasher and revenge motifs than many previous Saw films, giving Kramer a much more personal, almost intimate score to settle. Much of the tension arises from face-to-face confrontations: Kramer meets the people responsible for prolonging his suffering, interrogating them in situations that feel like twisted therapy sessions. Those scenes allow the film to explore power dynamics and moral hypocrisy while maintaining the franchise’s trademark brutality.
Kevin Greutert, a longtime editor for the franchise who previously directed Saw VI and Saw 3D, returns to helm this installment and reaffirms his flair for strikingly grisly visuals. The practical gore effects are unsettlingly convincing, and Greutert, along with cinematographer Nick Matthews, makes ordinary industrial sets look dramatic and oppressive through careful lighting and composed camera work. The production design and makeup effects contribute to a visceral atmosphere that fans of the series will appreciate.
The film’s antagonists are corrupt actors within the medical industry: predatory “Big Pharma” figures and unscrupulous practitioners who exploit vulnerable patients. Synnøve Macody Lund’s Cecelia serves as a readable and theatrically engaging foil, moving between low-level menace and high melodrama with effective timing. Meanwhile Shawnee Smith returns as Amanda, whose complex, often warped relationship with Kramer remains one of the franchise’s most compelling interpersonal cores. Smith slips back into the role with unnerving ease, and the chemistry between her and Bell reinforces the twisted intimacy at the story’s heart.
The filmmakers wisely avoid heavy-handed de-aging effects for Bell and Smith, instead letting their performances carry the emotional weight. That authenticity occasionally highlights the passage of real-world time — both actors visibly carry years on screen — but the choice keeps the film grounded and avoids distracting visual gimmicks.
Fans of the franchise will find the traps satisfyingly inventive and frequently gruesome. The film blends clever, mechanically plausible devices with more extreme, elaborate set-ups; one sequence involving self-surgery stretches credibility even within the franchise’s extreme standards, but gore fans will likely applaud the commitment to visceral detail. Overall, Saw X may be the bloodiest and most graphically explicit entry in the series to date.
If you’ve never been attracted to the franchise’s mix of moral posturing and explicit violence, this entry will probably confirm that pattern — it delivers more of the same, albeit with a stronger focus on character. Longtime viewers, however, may rank this film highly for its deeper dive into Kramer’s contradictory psyche and its exploration of his mortality. Whether or not the franchise continues, Saw X functions as a compelling, if disturbing, character study that gives Kramer a bleak and dramatic arc.
Score: 17/24
Rating: ★★★ (3 out of 5)
Recommended for you: Saw Movies Ranked