Spiral stars Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson, and is produced by the original SAW team of Mark Burg and Oren Koules. The film is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Josh Stolberg & Pete Goldfinger. The film hits UK cinemas on May 17, 2021.
Synopsis
A criminal mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw. Working in the shadow of his father, an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game.
Review
Believe it or not but at this stage we’re seventeen year and seven sequels on from 2004’s Saw. The film which launched a franchise which gave birth to the term torture porn. Ahead of the release of Spiral I recently went back and re-watched the entire franchise which seems tainted by the term if birthed despite a penchant for incredibly complex, nuanced storytelling around said torture.
Now entering a new decade the franchise had found itself a new lease on life thanks to writers Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger. Here the pair and forth-time franchise director Darren Lynn Bousman pivot towards the psychological crime-thriller genre. The decision to shift focus to an outside perspective on the serial killer is nothing short of revelatory for Saw.
It might not be groundbreaking for cinema as a whole, but for a franchise which carved an incredibly successful niche it’s a breath of fresh air. Casting off the shackles and allowing for creative reinvention from the ground up is, if we’re lucky, futureproofing the franchise for more year to come.
Spiral is constructed perfectly to feel familiar to long-time fans whilst introducing newcomers to the basics. The opening sequence is reminiscent of setup in other movies. It’s familiar to both the crime genre and the Saw franchise. A cop goes on the hunt for thief and ends up in a life-or-death game infant of a moving subway train. The mix of old and new concepts perfectly communicates to the audience that Spiral won’t be following the same formula.
I had to engage my logical brain as we get down to business and meet Spiral‘s core cast. As a fan of the franchise Spiral feels exciting. There’s a palpable excitement in front of and behind the camera which is intoxicating. One feels like Bousman and co. really enjoyed making this film and stepping out of their comfort zone. But conversely to this Spiral is somewhat predictable as a thriller. It follows a repetitive pattern of disappearance, followed by clue, followed by game. A cat and mouse chase between Chris Rock’s Zeke Banks and our unknown Jigsaw copycat.
Add flavour is injected by a subplot featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Zeke’s father, Marcus. Spiral‘s script often leans on Jackson as a narrative scapegoat. Setting him up as the potential successor to John Kramer for Zeke to unmask. Kramer, by the way, is entirely absent from this film bar some photographic evidence of his autopsy. Though it is ultimately just misdirection, Spiral does use Jackson successfully to this end and certainly pays off the story in interesting and unexpected ways.
There are still some similarities to what I’d call old school Saw. At times Spiral is heavy handed with exposition. Very early on we’re told heavy handedly about Zeke’s disconnection with the rest of the police in his precinct. Though the reasons behind it are told via flashbacks, the dialogue goes to great lengths to separate him from the team from the outset. Also, as each victim awakes to their potential deathtrap, the copycat killer explains at great lengths the reasons for their predicament. Again it feels familiar to franchise stalwarts but can be a little exhaustive at times.
Our new cop killer has potentially heroic motives. Each of their victims has some kind of shady past which involves police corruption. It makes Spiral incredibly timely and I don’t doubt for a second that Stolberg and Goldfinger injected that skepticism of the police on purpose. There’s no direct addressing of racial tensions against the police force but it’s not a narrative reach to believe an understanding of those underpins the storytelling here.
Jordan Oram’s cinematography is breath of fresh air for the franchise. It echoes classic thrillers like Se7en and Zodiac rather than replicating the look of films past. Later sequels in the franchise look very straightforward in hindsight, particularly Saw 3D. In comparison Spiral looks and feels cinematic in a way we haven’t seen in some time. Charlie Clouser’s score is also equally refreshing whilst still working in that classic Saw theme just in time for the final kill.
Verdict
Spiral is a unique and exciting new direction for the Saw franchise. Taking its cues from psychological crime thrillers and melding them with classic franchise gore.
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