Spiral: From The Book Of Saw Review - 4 Ups & 6 Downs

1. Its Topical, Provocative Themes

Despite its weirdly formulaic execution, there are some interesting ideas at the core of this movie, primarily by centering so much of the narrative around corrupt cops and police brutality.

The trailers make it clear that the new Jigsaw is targeting cops, which in a political climate where the police - especially American police - are under more scrutiny than ever before, lends the film a searing topicality.

Obviously Bousman and company couldn't have anticipated quite how 2020 would reignite conversations about the merits of the police, but as a result the film nevertheless has its finger on the pulse of society in a way that no other Saw movie really does.

It's a shame, then, that the script doesn't take this even further, especially with a prominent Black creative like Chris Rock spearheading the film's creation, using it instead as a fairly shallow fringe to tell a frustratingly conventional Saw story.

Still, for many exasperated with state-sponsored violence in the U.S., the bones of Spiral's story do hit closer to home than any previous Saw film.