Movie Review

Came, Saw, Murdered

A gruesome slasher film or a twisted fable? At first glance a typical horror film, Saw reveals a surprising moral message. Maneuvering the psyche through a endless twists and turns, director James Wan coaxes the viewer through not only a series of thrills, but an enticing narrative. This film garners attention through gory shots, compelling acting, and an ever-changing plot. Viewers’ sympathy is pushed and pulled in every direction as new characters and plot lines are revealed. Fear is evoked not only through the suspense and the classic scary imagery, but through the film’s implication: appreciate life while you can, or else you will be the next target.

A serial killer dubbed “Jigsaw” hosts a series of games for his unwilling captors. Jigsaw chooses victims who display a lack of appreciation and ambition for their lives. He targets those who commit sins such as voyeurism, adultery, and those who attempt suicide. These characters are gradually revealed to have shocking and often interrelated pasts—pasts which play a part in Jigsaw’s choice of victims. Throughout the film, it becomes clear that the killer has a motive for wanting to punish those who waste their lives away. However, the identity of the killer is a secret for the majority of the film so viewers are left wondering and on the edge of their seats waiting for plot exposition.

Jigsaw seeks to remedy each character’s dark past through a series of nightmarish riddles. These unconventional moral interventions in the form of puzzles, earns the killer his name—and draws the reader in to the ultimate message—live life well, or not at all. A victim that did manage to escape, proving herself worthy of life, says of Jigsaw, “he saved me.” Characters are peeled apart, layer by layer (both literally and figuratively), as the viewer’s sympathy is pulled in every direction. Because the movie is so reliant upon rapid, capricious shifts in plot and viewer perception, it is a crime in itself to reveal too much. Every change in scenery comes with a change in plot, and through this series of seamlessly woven twists and turns Wan manages to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats.

Kid cries wolf—“there’s a strange man in my closet”—and is foolishly ignored. A child’s laughter echoes in the darkness. A leering, sinister ventriloquists’ doll. Said doll mounting a tricycle and pedaling towards a victim. A man awakens to learn that the key to unlock his trap is buried in his skull, and the viewer accompanies him through his futile attempts to obtain the key and escape. Chock full of gory and just plain creepy shots guaranteed to satiate any horror buff’s morbid desires, Wan balances these hackneyed-but-needed scenes with impressive plot exposition.

Watch this film if you can stomach the gruesome imagery—once you get past the horror tropes the plot reveals itself to be jarring yet enticing. Saw digests almost more like a psychological thriller than a slasher film. Once the ending credits roll, one is left feeling a shaky but inspiring desire to carpe diem, lest Jigsaw find out about one’s squandering of life’s opportunities. The end of the film brings realization and a morbid sympathy for the killer and his desire to improve the lives of those dedicated enough to escape after winning his games. The very thing he takes— life—is what he seeks to replenish, in those willing to fight.