Saw started with a relatively simple idea. James Wan's 2004 low-budget horror chained two men to a dingy bathroom, a horrifying puppet with the voice of Tobin Bell telling them a very simple order: "I want to play a game." Across nine sequels and nineteen years, the franchise proceeded to lose its entire mind. Through endless twists, retcons, and timeline-fudging, the lore of the Saw series got more convoluted with each passing entry, turning the legend of the Jigsaw killer into a twisted game all its own.
However! We're here to help. Below, you'll find the simplest watch method, in order of release date, followed by a full breakdown of which Saw movies happen when, and chronologically. (Maybe save that second option until after you're done.)
Editor's Note: This piece was updated on September 4, 2024.
Saw X
R
A sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable.
- Release Date
- October 7, 2023
- Director
- Kevin Greutert
- Cast
- Shawnee Smith , Michael Beach , Synnøve Macody Lund , Tobin Bell
- Runtime
- 118 minutes
- Main Genre
- Horror
Saw Movies In Order of Release Date
If you haven't seen a single Saw movie or just haven't finished up the franchise, start with this option to avoid spoilers. The timeline gets pretty wonky.
- Saw - October 29, 2004
- Saw II - October 28, 2005
- Saw III - October 27, 2006
- Saw IV - October 26, 2007
- Saw V - October 24, 2008
- Saw VI - October 23, 2009
- Saw 3D (Also known as Saw: The Final Chapter) - October 29, 2010
- Jigsaw - October 27, 2017
- Spiral: From the Book of Saw - May 14, 2021
- Saw X - September 29, 2023
- Saw XI - September 26, 2025
Saw Movies In Chronological Order
Beware: Spoilers ahead. This section is for anyone making their way through the Saw franchise who wants to check in and understand what the hell just happened/was retconned with a last-minute flashback. Here are the Saw movies in (relatively!) chronological order:
Half of 'Jigsaw'
The actual test taking place in 2017's Jigsaw, which sees five people—each with a horrible secret—wake up in a deathtrap-filled barn, is actually one of the very first games orchestrated by John Kramer, taking place well before the events of Saw.
'Saw'
In terms of the main, current-day storyline being told by the Saw franchise, James Wan's original film is the starting block. However, as revealed through many, many subsequent flashbacks, this isn't even close to Kramer's first trap, and by this point, he had already recruited two conspirators: Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) and Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor).
'Saw X'
Saw X takes place just a few weeks after the events of Saw with John Kramer being given his cancer diagnosis and finding hope of a cure through a member of his cancer support group, which takes him on a trip to Mexico. However, when it turns out that the treatment is part of a scam, he works with protégée Amanda Young — who is still learning the ropes after surviving her trial just weeks earlier, and has reservations about one victim due to her own struggle with addiction — to give them a taste of their own medicine.
The film is also set roughly a year prior to Saw II and sets up Amanda’s apprenticeship and takeover of the Jigsaw handle and her rather close relationship with Kramer. This installment definitely holds ties to later films, as well, particularly Saw III, as it depicts Kramer working with Hoffman before the events of that film, and Saw VI, which ties into corrupt medical systems and Kramer’s desperation for a cure.
'Saw II'
The Saw II plotline that sees Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) apprehending the Jigsaw Killer and trying to find the whereabouts of his son, Daniel (Eric Knudsen), takes place about a year after Saw. The film's actual Jigsaw test, eight people trapped in a house of horrors slowly filling with poisonous gas—Daniel and Amanda Young among them—is presented as happening concurrently but actually took place a few days prior to John being arrested.
PRE-SAW FLASHBACK: We see John Kramer survive a suicide attempt, inspiring him to become Jigsaw and give others the second chance he felt he was given.
'Saw III' / 'Saw IV'
In arguably the franchise's wildest switcheroo, Saw III and Saw IV happen at the same time, six months after Saw II. In the third film, John Kramer kidnaps a man named Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), testing what it'd take for him to forgive the drunk driver who caused his son's death. John's apprentice, Amanda, kidnaps a doctor named Lynn (Bahar Soomekh) and forces her to try to keep a bedridden John alive until he sees Jeff complete his "game." At the end of the film, John finally succumbs to his terminal cancer and Amanda is shot and killed by Jeff.
Saw IV reveals that John had long-prepared for his death by leaving behind a variety of clues for a team of detectives, who become ensnared in John's final game. At the end of the film, one of the detectives is revealed to be Hoffman, one of John's apprentices.
PRE-SAW FLASHBACKS: In Saw IV, we learn that an accident at a rehab clinic caused by an addict named Cecil Adams (Billy Otis) caused John Kramer's wife, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), to miscarriage. Soon after, Cecil became Jigsaw's very first victim.
'Saw V'
Saw V picks up very shortly after the events of Saw IV and the death of John Kramer. In the film, Hoffman has now been promoted from his police job to a lieutenant, and is ordered to investigate the Jigsaw murders. The film plays like a game of cat and mouse between Hoffman and FBI Agent Strahm, ending with Hoffman finally capturing and killing his adversary, framing him as Jigsaw's successor.
PRE-SAW FLASHBACK: We learn the trap that opens this film, a gigantic pendulum that cuts convicted murderer Seth Baxter (Joris Karsky) in half, was actually created solely by Hoffman and made to look like a Jigsaw killing. John Kramer finds out and recruits Hoffman to his cause.
'Saw VI'
Saw VI starts just a few days after the events of Saw V. The sixth film in the franchise finds Hoffman orchestrating a "game" for the employees of a sketchy health insurance company, where the top executive, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), is forced to attempt to rescue his employees and his own family. In the wake of Strahm's death, the FBI begins to realize that Strahm was framed and that the killer is still lurking out.
PRE-SAW FLASHBACK: We learn that health insurance executive William Easton, denied John Kramer coverage that may have saved his life. We also learn Amanda Young was partially responsible for Jill's miscarriage, information that Hoffman used to blackmail Amanda into murdering Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) in Saw III.
'Saw 3D' (Also known as 'Saw: The Final Chapter')
Saw 3D takes place just a few weeks after the events of Saw VI. (Based mostly on the fact Hoffman's face is mostly healed from getting bear-trapped to hell in Saw VI). The film's main victim, Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery), garnered fame by falsely claiming he escaped a Jigsaw game between Saw and Saw II.
Post-Saw flashback: We learn that Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) survived after the end of the first Saw long enough to cauterize his severed leg on a pipe and pass out. John Kramer discovered him in the hallway and eventually convinced him to become yet another Jigsaw acolyte, with Gordon working behind the scenes in every subsequent Saw movie.
The Other Half of 'Jigsaw'
The storyline in Jigsaw that follows Detectives Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) and Hunt (Cle Bennett) takes place ten years after the death of John Kramer.
'Spiral: From the Book of Saw'
While Spiral: From the Book of Saw avoids placing itself in a specific year—and doesn't pull a single timeline twist!—it's safe to say the film takes place a few years after the modern-day storyline in Jigsaw. This installment follows Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock), who, alongside his new partner Detective William Schenk (Max Minghella), attempts to track down a budding new killer, with methods similar to Jigsaw, who is targeting cops, including Zeke's father Marcus (Samuel L. Jackson). At the end of the film, Schenk reveals himself to be the true killer and successfully kills Marcus, although Zeke's fate is left unknown.
