Saw | Saw II | Saw III | Saw IV | Saw V | Saw VI | Saw 3D | Jigsaw | Spiral | Saw X
- Accidental Aesop:
- The killer, Schenk, reveals that he got into the force by using a fake name/identity as part of his greater scheme to take down corrupt police officers. Since he's not shown to be nearly as Crazy-Prepared as the original Jigsaw or have quite the same financial means/resources as him, it should have theoretically been easy for a major metropolitan police force to do a background check and find out that the guy wasn't who he said he was. It not only demonstrates the ineffectiveness of this particular police force, it also contributes to the film's message criticizing American law enforcement in general, specifically accusing it of having such lax standards that they'd allow any two-bit thug to join no matter how unfit they are for police work.
- Although the film was actually written, shot and slated to be released prior to the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd becoming public knowledge and the ensuing protests against police brutality, it hits on several of the themes that became part of mainstream discourse. For example, although two of the corrupt officers seen in the film (Pete and Fitch, who both killed people for no real reason) were white men, their actions were enabled by a black chief (Marcus) and then a Latina captain (Angie). The film makes a commentary, even if accidental, that adding more diversity to a fundamentally corrupt and racist system doesn't necessarily make it any less corrupt or racist, and that identity politics can't solve major systemic issues.
- Anvilicious: This movie isn't subtle at all with its critiques of police brutality and abuse of authority.
- Captain Obvious Reveal: The culprit being Schenk is pretty obvious when he supposedly dies in one of the games, simply due to the fact that, unlike all the past victims (as well as the fact that this already happened in two previous films with other killers), he's never seen getting kidnapped nor is his game itself shown. Also, his surname sounds like "shank" (as in to stab someone in the back), and the fact that he's played by Max Minghella (who's already known for playing twist villains) was enough for some people to figure him out as early as the film's trailer came out.
- Critical Dissonance: The movie had mixed-to-negative critical reception but positive fan feedback and box office profits that doubled the budget despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Fan Nickname: Saw IX, although it's mostly given by viewers outside the fanbase.
- Genius Bonus: Zeke shares a name with the prophet Ezekiel, well-known for the two quotes from the Bible below, which are very similar to the Spiral Killer's motives. Better yet, a variation of the first quote was previously used as a tagline for Saw III, and the second one also showed up in another film starring Samuel L. Jackson.Saw III tagline (Ezekiel 21:33:37): "This Halloween... I will judge you... Your blood shall flow... throughout the land... for I have spoken."Ezekiel 25:17: I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them.
- Magnificent Bastard: William "Schenk", real name Emmerson, is revealed as the brains behind a recent string of murders. Witnessing the death of his father when he was a boy, William dons the mask of the "Spiral Killer", having been inspired by Jigsaw's methods yet nevertheless considering them lacking. Seeking to reform the police force as a whole, Schenk exclusively targets dirty cops and places them in traps resulting in their demise should they fail to heed his instructions. After faking his death, he offers Zeke the chance to become his apprentice out of gratitude for him testifying against his father's murderer. He then smoothly incriminates Zeke's father as an active shooter and puppeteers him so the SWAT team would be compelled to shoot him. He skillfully flees the scene during the onslaught of chaos giving Zeke a playful shush before presumably continuing his crusade.
- Memetic Mutation: When the movie's title logo was first shown, many people noticed that it bore an uncanny resemblance to the Sega Dreamcast logo and made jokes about it being the villain.
- Narm: Examples from the film are in the franchise's page.
- Obvious Judas: As stated above, Schenk being the Spiral Killer becomes very blatant when he's seemingly captured by the killer and doesn't survive, if only due to the fact that we don't even get a single scene of that happening onscreen.
- Older Than They Think:
- Schenk's plot and motives are not too dissimilar from Jigsaw's in Saw II, whose target, Eric Matthews, was a corrupt police officer planting evidence on crime scenes to prove guilt. Bizarrely, even though that film and this one share the same director, Zeke insists that the killer can't be Jigsaw because he "doesn't target cops".
- With the plot centered largely around Police Brutality and calls for police accountability, the movie might seem to have been written in response to the protests against the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. However, the movie was written and shot before those killings were publicized, and originally slated to be released before discourse about defunding or reforming police gained more mainstream traction, though it's not as if police brutality wasn't a hot-button issue beforehand, as even Chris Rock has discussed this topic on his past routines.
- Questionable Casting: Many viewers were surprised to see Chris Rock — who is widely known for his comedy — starring for the first time in a serious horror film. It should be noted that he's the one who came up with the story, and this is not the first time he's been in a non-comedic role (said film being even referenced by his character at one point).
- Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: While the Saw franchise in general is hardly uplifting, Spiral tries to have its cake and eat it too with almost every victim being a full-on asshole in one way or another, and gruesomely maiming themselves only to end dying regardless of whether they succeeded in their task (which even then is highly unlikely with all the stakes put against them) or not. The protagonist also goes through a whole line of misfortunate events over the movie's runtime. It quickly becomes apparent that nothing good can possibly happen, and a brutal Downer Ending is inevitable, so it's easy to give up on the film sooner or later.
