Set between the events of the first two films, a sick and desperate John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer. However, upon discovering that the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable, the infamous Jigsaw Killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in a visceral, personal game of survival.
Information |
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Language |
English Spanish |
Country |
United States Mexico |
Premiere date |
September 29, 2023 |
Running time |
118 minutes |
Genre |
Horror Mystery Thriller |
Budget |
$13,000,000 |
Box Office |
$111,822,503 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Kevin Greutert |
Produced by |
Mark Burg Oren Koules |
Written by |
Peter Goldfinger Josh Stolberg |
Music by |
Charlie Clouser |
Cinematography |
Nick Matthews |
Edited by |
Kevin Greutert |
Production Co. |
Twisted Pictures |
Distributed by |
Lionsgate |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #10 in Saw Collection
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The Plot
A Desperate Hope and a Cruel Deception
Following the harrowing events of the first film, John Kramer finds himself facing his own mortality. During a visit to the hospital, he receives a devastating prognosis: his advancing cancer has left him with only a few months to live. Consumed by the desire to survive, John attends a cancer support group where he reconnects with Henry Kessler, an acquaintance who claims to be in remission. Henry introduces John to the work of Dr. Cecilia Pederson, a miraculous figure who reportedly travels the globe saving terminally ill patients using an experimental, unapproved treatment method developed by her father.
Driven by hope, John contacts Cecilia, who offers him a spot in her current test series for a payment of $250,000. She instructs him to travel to Mexico City, explaining that she operates in secrecy to avoid interference from influential pharmaceutical companies that wish to suppress her research. Upon arrival, John is taken to an improvised clinic set up inside an abandoned chemical plant. There, he seemingly undergoes a complex surgery and wakes up believing he has been cured. However, the relief is short-lived. When John returns to the factory later to personally thank Cecilia and her team, he discovers the facility deserted. The horrific truth dawns on him: the operation was a complete scam, and the procedure was never actually performed.
The First Test: Diego’s Penance
Now fully embracing his persona as Jigsaw, John tracks down the taxi driver, Diego, who had posed as the neurosurgeon, Dr. Ramón Cortez. John abducts him and drags him back to the chemical plant to face the consequences of his deception. After interrogating Diego to gather information on the rest of the fraudulent team, John subjects him to a visceral test of survival. Diego is fitted with two pipe bombs attached to his forearms via galvanized cables. To survive, he must cut into his own flesh to sever the cables before the three-minute timer expires. Driven by adrenaline and fear, Diego manages to mutilate his arms and remove the bombs just in time to survive the explosion. True to his word, John treats Diego's wounds before using the information extracted from him to capture the remaining co-conspirators.
Assisted by his apprentice, Amanda Young, John rounds up the rest of the scammers. The group includes Cecilia Pederson herself; Mateo, a veterinarian who posed as the anesthesiologist; Valentina, a prostitute who acted as a nurse; and Gabriela, a drug addict who falsely claimed to be a cancer patient cured by Cecilia’s methods. They wake up in the factory, terrified and confused, as the true nature of their situation becomes clear.
The Game Begins: Valentina’s Sacrifice
The frauds are forced to participate in a cruel series of games designed to test their will to live and force them to atone for preying on the dying. The first test falls to Valentina. She is instructed that to survive, she must amputate her own right leg using a Gigli saw. However, the amputation is only half the task; she must then extract three ounces of her own bone marrow within three minutes to stop a vacuum mechanism. Valentina frantically saws through her leg, screaming in agony as she severs the limb. She succeeds in the amputation but struggles to suction out enough bone marrow before the timer hits zero. Consequently, she fails her test and is decapitated by an automated wire saw.
Following Valentina's gruesome death, John and Amanda retreat to discuss the progression of the game. During these interludes, Amanda displays a rare sense of empathy toward Gabriela, seeing a reflection of her own past struggles with drug addiction in the young woman. Meanwhile, Cecilia seizes a moment of distraction to retrieve her phone and frantically calls for help, only to be interrupted by Amanda.
Unforeseen Interruptions and Mateo’s Fate
Chaos ensues when Parker Sears, a thyroid cancer patient who believes he was also scammed by Cecilia, arrives at the plant demanding his money back. Unaware of the game in progress, he invades the factory, but Amanda quickly subdues him. John decides to keep Parker alive, forcing him to observe the subsequent tests as a witness. With Parker secured, Amanda prepares Mateo for his trial.
Mateo is strapped into a chair for a test that mocks his fake role as a surgeon. He is given three minutes to drill into his own skull, extract a piece of his brain tissue large enough to dissolve in a beaker of enzyme fluid, and complete the circuit to unlock his restraints. Terrified, Mateo begins the procedure, cutting into his head and removing gray matter. He drops the tissue into the enzyme tank, but the dissolution process takes too long. As the timer expires, a mask-like device snaps shut over his face, heating up and fatally electrocuting him.
Gabriela’s Trial and a Betrayal Revealed
The next test subject is Gabriela, who is suspended from the ceiling by chains. She faces a radiation machine capable of burning her alive. To escape the lethal rays, she must use a hammer to shatter her own hand and ankle, allowing her to slip free from the shackles. Despite the excruciating pain, Gabriela successfully breaks her bones and falls to the floor, severely injured but alive. However, before Amanda can rush her to the hospital for medical attention, the dynamic shifts dramatically.
Parker Sears, previously thought to be another victim, reveals his true allegiance: he is Cecilia’s boyfriend and secret partner. Cecilia had managed to call him earlier to coordinate a rescue. Parker pulls a gun, freeing Cecilia and turning the tables on their captors. In a display of cold-blooded cruelty, Cecilia, now free, murders the injured Gabriela, claiming she is a loose end. She then forces John into his own trap.
The Blood Trap and The Final Gambit
Seeking to punish John further, Cecilia drags Carlos—an innocent young boy from the neighborhood whom John had befriended—into the factory and chains him opposite John on a seesaw-like trap. As the mechanism activates, the device begins to waterboard them with blood. John and the boy take turns drowning in the torrent of blood, fighting for breath. While they suffer, Cecilia and Parker head to John’s surveillance room to retrieve the money bag containing the cash from their fraudulent treatments.
Cecilia grabs the bag, believing she has won. However, upon lifting it, a countdown timer initiates, locking the door to the surveillance room. John, Amanda, and Carlos are suddenly released from the blood trap, the mechanism deactivating as revealed to be a diversion. The scammers realize too late that John had anticipated Parker's intervention and deception. As John, Amanda, and Carlos stand safely outside, the surveillance room begins to fill with a corrosive, acidic gas.
The Price of Survival
Trapped in the gas-filled room, Cecilia and Parker panic. A single ventilation hole opens in the wall, but it is only large enough for one person’s head to breathe fresh air. Realizing only one can survive, Cecilia turns on Parker, stabbing him to death in a frenzy to claim the air supply for herself. She sticks her head through the hole, gasping for air as the acid fills the room behind her. Although she survives the physical trap, she is left trapped in the room, surrounded by the corpse of her lover and the money she can no longer use. John, Amanda, and Carlos walk out of the chemical plant into the light, leaving Cecilia to her fate.
Mid-Credit Scene: The Loose End
Some time later, John Kramer ties up the final loose end of the scam. Accompanied by his other accomplice, Detective Mark Hoffman, John tracks down Henry Kessler, the man who first introduced him to the fraudulent treatment. They abduct Henry and take him to the iconic, dilapidated bathroom from the first film. As Henry wakes up, he finds himself restrained, realizing that a new game is about to begin for him.
