After trying its hand at a few reboots, the Saw franchise finally has a strong reentry into the horror genre with Saw X – which takes the franchise’s gory goods and Jigsaw-focused story back to its roots and even to new heights.

The film – which takes place between the events of Saw II and Saw III – follows John Kramer (Tobin Bell) as his cancer starts to really consume him. As time goes on, John is slowly becoming weaker, and doctors are starting to say that he’s basically on borrowed time. While John’s sense of morality as the Jigsaw killer has always made him someone you could never fully love or even like, Saw X will make viewers care about him on a very real level. The early scenes of his deteriorating health will leave viewers with a heavy heart because of how grounded and genuine those feelings of death nearing are for John. Despite John garnering a renowned killer persona, it’s hard not to feel something for him here and Bell – who is THE reason fans have continually loved Jigsaw – delivers one of his most emotional and vulnerable portrayals of John yet.

Saw X features the most personable depiction of John in the entire franchise – especially when it comes to why he’s put a new set of people in his deadly traps. After John becomes aware of an experimental medical procedure that could cure his cancer, he decides to take a trip to Mexico with the hopes that they can help him live. While everything initially seems legit, John comes to learn that this group of medical professionals is scamming cancer patients just like him out of their money. However, this time they’ve crossed someone just as twisted as they are and with the help of his assistant Amanda (Shawnee Smith), brings them all into his gory game that forces them to survive some of his most gruesome traps.

Now, the only way for Saw X to maintain John’s established emotional connection and keep him sympathetic is by presenting a greater evil. Surprisingly, the film does that incredibly well by introducing a great secondary villain in Cecillia (Synnove Macody Lund) – the leader of this group of scammers. Lund’s performance is delightfully villainous and becomes more vicious as time goes on. At first, she just seems like a standard nefarious figure that belongs in one of Jigsaw’s traps. However, she slowly evolves to be an evil rival to Jigsaw that you can’t take your eyes off and shows she’s not afraid to do whatever it takes to beat John as his own game. With how her arc in the film ends, Cecillia boasts all the potential to be a great antagonist for John and his disciples to face off against in this anti-hero arc that’s potentially unfolding.

Outside of Lund’s performance as Cecillia, most of the other performances and characters are fine – amping up the fear and smarmy evil that’s usually seen in these films. However, Bell and Smith are great and hold the plot together excellently as this film does a great job exploring their dynamic as mentor and disciple. Most of the films in this franchise only explore John and Amanda’s relationship through brief flashbacks that aren’t all that revealing. However, Saw X goes much deeper into what their dynamic as Jigsaw killers is like and it’s actually incredibly interesting.

There’s something intriguing about John attempting to pass the Jigsaw reins over to Amanda, and her own struggles to completely fill his shoes. Her own personal bias and beliefs with Jigsaw’s ideology are perfectly touched on and effectively hint at what happens between them in Saw III. There are great scenes of them talking about the impact and reality of John’s legacy continuing after he’s gone. What his ideology as Jigsaw means now for them results in some good dissection of John at this point and is especially interesting to hear given that fans know where the series heads after this. It honestly does what this series does pretty well with its stories – filling in the gaps to create a more complex and compelling wider picture. The performances from Bell and Smith mixed with Kevin Greutert’s direction make this one of the most satisfying Saw stories for fans – which helps overshadow some of the film’s weaker qualities.

While Saw X has that grimy and dingy feel that classic Saw films have, its tongue in cheek dialogue can be a little out of place and over the top. The dialogue – especially from Amanda – can come off like it’s trying for laughs and take away from the intensity of certain moments. Even Cecillia and John can lose some of their villainous presence because of this and it does make the tone of the film too undecided at times. Also, it’s a little weird to watch John and Amanda set up the traps this time around while the victims are present and fully explain things to them face to face. Admittedly, it does fit the more personal impact this game has on John. But for long-time fans, it’ll be a little strange to see them so out of the shadows, and it makes the film’s trap sequences have this out of the norm feel.

Still though, Saw X absolutely delivers when it comes to the traps, and it genuinely might feature some of the most gruesome and shocking traps seen in quite some time. Where Spiral was underwhelming because of how bloodless and less shocking its traps felt compared to other Saw films, Saw X leans completely into gory trap sequences that’ll have audiences squirming. The franchise returns to more practically conceived kills and trap sequences that deliver the grossest chills imaginable and horrific creativity that leaves a gutting impact. Seriously, these traps are unforgettably grisly, and it fits how personally motivated John is this time around. Saw X does not hold anything back in making its trap sequences stand out and lets the blood spill all over the screen – which will be a true delight for fans.

What really makes Saw X a great entry though is the more simplistic approach it has for this story in John’s legacy. While there are great nods to the previous and impending Saw films as well as a post-credit scene that sees a fan-favorite return, it’s an entry that stands well on its own. It’s not obsessed with touching on the vast history of the franchise and can be a great reentry point for those looking to see what’s happening with the franchise this time around. Saw X also makes a great adjustment with its storytelling by just focusing on one storyline here. Unlike how previous entries have tons of flashbacks and multiple storylines happening at once, Saw X focuses on John and that’s it. Overall, it makes the film much easier and more engaging to watch. Yet, the trademark aspects of a twisty Saw narrative remain to deliver fun twists and turns throughout.

Jigsaw and the Saw franchise return in top form with Saw X as its story, performances, and gory goods are revitalized in ways that fans will love. Not everything is perfect, but Saw X finds a way to bring a much-needed spark back to the franchise and presents a potential future that could be great to explore – especially if Bell, Smith, and company are returning for more.

Watch the Trailer Here: