Spiral (also known as Spiral: From the Book of Saw which is alternatively titled as Spiral: From the Legacy of Saw internationally) is an American horror film and the ninth installment in the Saw franchise. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and co-written by Josh Stolberg, Pete Goldfinger, and Chris Rock. Filming for the movie began on July 8, 2019. Originally, it was scheduled for release on May 15, 2020, but pulled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was scheduled to be released on May 21, 2021, but its release date was later pushed up to May 14, 2021, when it was then released.
Although originally thought to be a reboot, Rock has confirmed that it will share a continuity with the other movies. The film was originally going under the title The Organ Donor, but the title was later officially revealed as Spiral: From the Book of Saw.
Plot[]
During a Fourth of July parade, off-duty detective Marv Bozwick chases a thief down a sewer drainage pipe. Attacked from behind by a figure wearing a pig mask, Bozwick wakes to find himself suspended by his tongue in an active subway tunnel and is given a choice via recorded message: tear out his tongue and live, or remain until the next train arrives, killing him. Unable to escape the trap, Bozwick is killed by a speeding subway train. The next day, police chief Angie Garza assigns Detective Ezekiel "Zeke" Banks a partner, idealistic rookie William Schenk. Banks and Schenk investigate Bozwick's death and Banks realizes this to be similar to the now deceased Jigsaw Killer.
Meanwhile, Detective Fitch – who had, several years prior, ignored a backup call, resulting in Banks being shot – is abducted and placed in a trap where he must rip his fingers off to avoid electrocution in a filling water basin; he fails to do so in time and dies. Some officers begin to suspect that Banks may be responsible, due to his history with Fitch. A box then arrives at the station, containing a pig puppet and a piece of Schenk's tattooed skin inside. A small vial inside the box directs the police to a butcher shop, which was previously a hobby shop that Banks and his father would go to. Upon arriving, the team discovers a tape recorder and a skinned corpse, identified as Schenk. Banks' father and former police chief Marcus Banks arrives at a warehouse, attempting to track down the killer, when he is abducted. Garza is then abducted, and placed in a trap in the precinct's cold storage where she has to sever her spinal cord on a blade to avoid having hot wax pour from a pipe onto her face; she manages to successfully sever her spine but dies of her injures, with her body found by a devastated Banks.
While chasing a lead, Banks is captured and wakes up at the warehouse, handcuffed to a pipe with a hacksaw nearby. He considers sawing off his arm, but is able to escape using a loose bobby pin. He then discovers Peter Dunleavy, his former partner who he reported for murder, chained in place. In front of him is a large machine which crushes glass bottles and hurls shrapnel at him at high speed; a tape recorder explains that Banks can choose to free him or leave him to die. Although Banks attempts to save him, he dies from blood loss.
Moving to another room, Banks then finds Schenk, who is revealed to have faked his death by using the skinned corpse of Benny Reitz, who lured Bozwick into the tunnels, and has been the copycat Jigsaw Killer all along. He explains that the person Pete murdered was Schenk's father, who was killed for being willing to testify against a dirty cop. He also reveals that Marcus was responsible for the policies that enabled such corruption to occur without consequence, which eventually resulted in his father's death. Hoping to recruit Ezekiel as a partner in punishing corrupt officers, Schenk presents Banks' final test. Marcus is being restrained in the air and slowly drained of blood, which will continue until Banks uses his father's gun's last bullet to either hit a target that will save Marcus but allowing Schenk to escape using an elevator, or to kill Schenk and let his father bleed to death. Ezekiel decides to shoot the target to save Marcus, causing his restraints to loosen and lowering him to the ground, and then begins to fight Schenk once he removes the IV drip. Shortly after, a SWAT team arrives and aimed their guns at Ezekiel due to his hostile actions against Schenk. Suddenly, Marcus restraints yank him upward again, thanks to the wire mechanism the SWAT team unknowingly severs when they cut the door open. A gun is revealed to be affixed to Marcus arm, and his arm is then pulled up by the restraints after several search lights behind him is turned on to cover Marcus harness and body. The SWAT teams, thinking that Marcus is attempting to fire at them, ended up shooting him to death, much to Ezekiel's terror. Ezekiel screams in anguish as he watches Schenk escapes while shushing him, as Ezekiel did to him when his father was killed years ago.
List of deaths[]
| Name | Cause of death | Killer | On screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marve Bozwick | Hit by on coming subway | Conducter | Yes |
| Jimmy Lincoin | Shot | Fitch | |
| Detective Fitch | Electrocuted | Detective William Schenk | |
| Benny Reitz | Skinned alive | No | |
| Angie Garza | Suffocated by hot wax | Yes | |
| Charlie Emmerson | Shot | Peter Dunleavy | |
| Peter Dunleavy | Lacerated by shards of glass | Detective William Schenk | |
| Marcus Banks | Shot by SWAT team | SWAT team |
Cast[]
- Chris Rock as Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks
- Samuel L. Jackson as Marcus Banks
- Max Minghella as Detective William Schenk
- Marisol Nichols as Captain Angie Garza
- Frank Licari as Charlie Emmerson
- Chad Camilleri as Benny Reitz
- Dan Petronijevic as Detective Marv “Boz” Bozwick
- Richard Zeppieri as Detective Fitch
- Patrick McManus as Peter “Pete” Dunleavy
- Edie Inksetter as Detective Deborah Kraus
- Thomas Mitchell as Detective Tim O'Brien
- Nazneen Contractor as Coroner Chada
- K.C. Collins as Detective Drury
- Christopher Ramsay as Crack Punk “Speez”
- Genelle Williams as Lisa Banks
- Dylan Roberts as Sergeant Morgey Silva
- Zoie Palmer as Kara Boswick
- Ali Johnson as Officer Jeannie Lewis
- Trevor Gretzky as Officer Pat Jones
- Leila Charles Leigh as Officer Mark
- Morgan David Jones as Officer Barrett
- Christopher Tai as Officer Johnson
- Nadine Roden as Officer Grant
- Carvin Winans as Officer Paul
- Sean Jones as Officer Livingston
- John Tokatlidis as Officer Burns