We’d like to play a game… or 10 games, to be precise.

How to watch the Saw movies in order, from Jigsaw to *Spiral *and beyond

We’d like to play a game… or 10 games, to be precise.

By Declan Gallagher

March 19, 2026 8:00 a.m. ET

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'Saw'; 'Saw X'; 'Jigsaw'. Credit:

Greg Gayne; Lionsgate/Everett; Brooke Palmer/Lionsgate

- James Wan and Leigh Whannell's horror hit *Saw* spawned nine sequels since its 2004 release.

- The franchise often tries to trick viewers regarding a film's place in the grander timeline.

- A new *Saw* movie, the first since 2023's *Saw X*, is currently in development with Wan and Whannell.

*Saw* is one of the weirder modern horror franchises, having created a modern boogeyman from an aging, cancer-ridden engineer who doesn't even kill his victims himself. Rather, he builds elaborate traps that they must escape — often through acts of self-mutilation.

James Wan and Leigh Whannell, both firmly enmeshed in the contemporary horror landscape, cut their teeth with the franchise's first installment in 2004. Nine sequels followed, elaborating on the enigmatic Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell) and amplifying the extreme gore gags for which the series would become known.

Wan and Whannell have publicly discussed returning the franchise to its roots in the future — with an emphasis on Jigsaw. "Leigh and I, we’re not going to give too much away, but we don’t think you can make a *Saw *movie without Jigsaw," Wan said during a legacy screening of *Saw* at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. "That’s the bottom line. And ultimately, we want to hark back to the spirit, what Leigh and I love about the original first movie. The original first movie, which is Jigsaw’s philosophy and what makes him tick."**

While it’s easy to wrap our heads around the series’ enduring popularity, the franchise’s complicated timeline is less obvious.

Each of the 10 (and counting) installments delights in twisting our expectations, just as Jigsaw delights in twisting the limbs of those who fail to appreciate their lives. Sometimes you’ll get to the end of a *Saw *movie before realizing its place in the franchise's timeline, or how it relates to the wider series. Thus, listing the films chronologically is an inherent spoiler. You've been warned.

As a complete guide to the franchise, this article also touches on major deaths and other pivotal moments, so please take heed before reading. For a spoiler-free guide to streaming the *Saw *movies in order, scroll to the bottom of this page.**

Jigsaw (2017)

Laura Vandervoort as Anna in "Jigsaw". Brooke Palmer/Lionsgate

Technically, the Spierig brothers’ reboot-cum-sequel — the first *Saw* film released after a seven-year gap — should be the first *and *last title on this list. A clever inversion of the series’ time-hopping antics, *Jigsaw* (spoiler alert) takes place both before the original *Saw* and several years following the events of that film. But we don’t find that out until the end.

The plot concerns pathologist Logan Nelson (Matt Passmore), who’s investigating the mysterious deaths of five people trapped in a grain silo and forced to hack themselves to bits for one of Jigsaw’s games. At the end, we learn the game we’ve been seeing throughout the film actually occurred 10 years before the events depicted here and several years before the events of *Saw*.

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Nelson reveals himself to be Jigsaw’s first apprentice — he was in the barn, presumed to have died in the opening scene — and explains that he re-created the decade-old game to frame the detective (Callum Keith Rennie) who let his wife’s murderer walk free. It’s remarkably complicated, but what about this franchise isn’t?

Where to watch *Jigsaw*: Netflix

Saw (2004)

Tobin Bell in "Saw".

Greg Gayne/Lionsgate/courtesy Everett Collection

Wan’s feature debut is a queasy tale of two men — Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Whannell) — trapped inside a dirty restroom, forced to unravel Jigsaw’s sickening plans for them and their loved ones. Danny Glover puts in time as the dogged red herring… er, detective tracking the murderer before he can claim his next victims.

Relatively muted in violence and gore compared to its sequels, *Saw* lays the groundwork for each subsequent film almost by accident. Little of what we see plot-wise would have a massive impact on the franchise’s future, with the exception of a few winking character and location cameos. However, the subsequent films were very much made in the spirit of this film’s ambiance and tone. Not to mention the template itself: the wild traps and rapid-cut montages; the cops getting shot and blown to pieces as they try to unravel the case; and of course, the last-minute twist that challenges everything we’ve just seen.

Where to watch *Saw*: Netflix

Saw X (2023)

Just a clown doll on a bike with an ominous cassette tape, nothing to see here.

Alexandro Bolaños Escamilla/Lionsgate

John Kramer ventures to Mexico for an experimental cancer treatment administered by money-hungry charlatans in this slick but not particularly inventive revival sequel, which takes place between the events of *Saw* and *Saw II*.

Directed by *Saw* veteran Kevin Greutert, *Saw X* disregards much of the backstory the other films try so hard to maintain. The plot is blessedly self-contained and uncomplicated: Jigsaw gets scammed, kidnaps his tormentors, and, with the help of his victim-turned-accomplice, Amanda (Shawnee Smith, regrettably bewigged), makes them fight for their lives — all while taking the necessary steps to set up a (presumably more labyrinthine) sequel.

A post-credit sting involving the return of Costas Mandylor’s villainous Agent Hoffman (first seen, release-wise, in *Saw III*) hints at some delectable directions *Saw XI* might explore.

Where to watch *Saw X*: Netflix

Saw II (2005)

He would like to play a game.

Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett

The first sequel to Wan’s horror hit takes place one year after the original's conclusion, and after Jigsaw’s trip to Mexico. Amanda, introduced only briefly in the first movie, takes center stage as she and a group of troubled (and particularly shouty) people try to fight their way out of a house jerry-rigged with all manner of nasty devices. Donnie Wahlberg makes his series debut as a cop trying to track down Jigsaw — and his own son, who's inside the house with Amanda.

*Saw II*, the first of four in the series directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, approaches Jigsaw as a more rounded character than the pig-masked ghoul from the first film. His toxic relationship with Amanda is also expanded upon here, setting the characters up for multiple sequels down the road.

After spending the film with Amanda and believing she’s once again been victimized by Jigsaw, it turns out she’s now working in cahoots with him. That reveal leads directly into…

Where to watch *Saw II*: Netflix

Saw III (2006)

Angus Macfadyen faces his fears in "Saw III".

Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett

*Saw III* is where the series came to its natural conclusion… though fans weren’t mad to get seven more installments (and counting). Following the previous film’s events, Amanda kidnaps a surgeon (Bahar Soomekh) to monitor a critically ill Jigsaw — and eventually perform brain surgery on him.

Bousman returned to helm this trilogy-capper, which does an admirable job closing the initial storyline, introducing new characters, and grossing us the hell out (ground-up pig carcass, anyone?).

Those who have stayed with the series through its ups and downs will no doubt feel a pang of nostalgia for when it carried a certain narrative weight. The finale — in which Jigsaw, Amanda, and just about everyone else meet their maker — gives the initial storyline a satisfying conclusion, sending future screenwriters reaching for increasingly inane ways to revive the central characters.

Where to watch *Saw III*: Netflix

Saw IV (2007)

Lyriq Bent in "Saw IV".

Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett

After Jigsaw’s death on the operating table in *Saw III*, he’s dissected by a pair of zealous morgue technicians who find, within his body, a wax-sealed tape on which the devious torturer has included one “final” game.

*Saw IV* is when the series pivoted its focus from the victims to cops (played by Lyriq Bent and, brilliantly, *Gilmore Girls*’ Scott Patterson). It also marks when the writing went into overdrive to keep the franchise alive. The plot is a bunch of nonsense about Jigsaw’s legacy and his impressive penchant for planning ahead, but it’s really about watching eyeballs pop and limbs get messily ripped from their intended sockets.

The murder maestro’s widow, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), figures prominently in this installment, with FBI Agent Strahm (Patterson) pursuing a pet theory placing her at the center of the crimes. This installment also establishes Jigsaw’s tragic backstory, showing how he was compelled to kill offenders after a violent drug addict caused Jill to miscarry their child.

Where to watch *Saw IV*: Netflix

Saw V (2008)

Scott Patterson is in a glass cage of emotion in "Saw V".

Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett

*Saw V* picks up in the moments following the fourth film’s conclusion. Agent Strahm is once again on the case, and he suspects the dodgy Agent Hoffman (Mandylor) might have something to do with Jigsaw’s continued presence at crime scenes.

This fifth entry spends a great deal of time setting up future installments and very little time doing anything interesting. That said, there's a particularly compelling Edgar Allen Poe-style device towards the film's end with passive implications for the central players.

Where to watch *Saw V*: Netflix

Saw VI (2009)

Tobin Bell as John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, in "Saw VI".

Steve Wilkie/Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett

The sixth film sees Hoffman advance Jigsaw’s work by confining a weaselly health insurance exec (Peter Outerbridge) to a disused carnival where he encounters all manner of horrific traps.

There’s a lot of business about why Jill is working with Hoffman to keep her late husband's legacy alive, but the filmmakers are clearly more interested in the gore portion of the story.

Where to watch *Saw VI*: Netflix

Saw: The Final Chapter (2010)

Costas Mandylor in "Saw: The Final Chapter".

Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett

Eh, not really. The seventh movie finds Hoffman and Jill still battling for supremacy over Jigsaw’s estate, with both pretty much in the same position they were previously. But this time, only one will make it out alive...

Where to watch *Saw: The Final Chapter*: Netflix

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Chris Rock in "Spiral". Brooke Palmer/Lionsgate

Remember when Chris Rock made a *Saw* movie?

Bousman returned to the franchise with this bizarre toss-off, a movie that attempts to completely reboot the brand while doing exactly the same thing the other films did.

Rock plays Zeke Banks, an honest, tired-looking cop who’s forced to reconcile his thorny professional history and his relationship with his retired cop father (Samuel L. Jackson). Before long, his colleagues (all of whom are corrupt) start turning up dismembered. Aside from some voiceover and that well-known theme music, nothing here relates back to the rest of the franchise, arguably making *Spiral *a standalone movie.

Where to watch *Spiral: From the Book of Saw*: Hulu

How to watch the *Saw *movies in chronological order:

- *Jigsaw* (2017)

- *Saw X *(2023)

- *Saw II* (2005)

- *Saw III* (2006)

- *Saw IV* (2007)

- *Saw V* (2008)

- *Saw VI* (2009)

- *Saw: The Final Chapter* (2010)

- *Spiral: From the Book of Saw *(2021)

How to watch the Saw movies in release order:

- *Saw II* (2005)

- *Saw III* (2006)

- *Saw IV* (2007)

- *Saw V* (2008)

- *Saw VI* (2009)

- *Saw: The Final Chapter* (2010)

- *Jigsaw *(2017)

- *Spiral: From the Book of Saw* (2021)

- *Saw X* (2023)

- Horror Movies

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Horror”