Do you want to play a game? Then, good news, Netflix is now the streaming home to every single “Saw” movie. After adding nine installments in the ultra-gory horror series as part of its March 2026 slate, accompanying the one that was already available (spin-off “Spiral”), you can now watch every single entry in the “Saw” series on Netflix, from 2004’s “Saw” all the way to 2023’s “Saw X.”
Even the most passionate of “Saw” super fans will tell you the franchise’s quality is spotty at best. While “Saw” is often dismissed by critics as cheap “torture porn,” at its best, “Saw” combines a grungy aesthetic with twisting narratives and shocking violence. At its worst… well, those critics might just have a point. I’ve seen every single “Saw” movie, and I’m here to tell you the best three in the bunch, the ones that are actually worth your watch time.
‘Saw’ (2004)
The first “Saw” is a hugely influential and important movie in the modern horror lexicon. Naturally, it birthed the ongoing series, and it spawned innumerable imitators.
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For several years after its release, pretty much any movie that dipped into extreme violence was compared to “Saw.” But for as much as later sequels would reveal in bloody excess, the first “Saw” actually shows some restraint. Its “traps” are more grounded, and best of all, it contains a genuinely excellent twist that, if you’ve somehow not had it spoiled, you need to watch “Saw” as soon as possible.
The psychological horror opens with two strangers (Leigh Whannell and Cary Elwes) awakening in a dingy bathroom, each chained to a metal pipe. In the middle of the room is a corpse, holding a cassette recorder. They’ve been trapped here by a sadistic serial killer known as “Jigsaw,” and to survive, they must play and beat his twisted puzzle games. Meanwhile, two police detectives (Danny Glover and Ken Leung) try to discover Jigsaw’s identity.
Watch “Saw” on Netflix now
‘Jigsaw’ (2017)
The core “Saw” franchise went downhill pretty fast, so I’m leaping forward to the eighth entry, which, in classic horror franchise fashion, came after “Saw 3D,” which was pitched as “The Final Chapter” (Hollywood never lets a profitable series rest). Designed as something of a franchise reboot, it heavily links back to the original seven-movie run, but can also be enjoyed by newcomers, with all the necessary information dished out via flashbacks.
Set a decade after John “Jigsaw” Kramer’s death (as seen in “Saw III”), a new killer is on the loose, one with methods that are eerily similar to Kramer’s. When further clues surface that Jigsaw might not be truly dead, the investigating detectives are forced to ponder if they’re chasing a ghost. Meanwhile, a new group of victims awakens chained up in a barn and is forced to survive yet another twisted series of deadly games. It’s classic “Saw.”
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‘Saw X’ (2023)
I’m often critical of nostalgia-baiting sequels, but “Saw X” is a rare franchise rerun that might be the franchise’s new quality peak. Set between “Saw” and “Saw II,” it allows Tobin Bell to fully return as John Kramer (Bell never left the horror franchise, but post “Saw III” was relegated to flashbacks). It’s the best-reviewed entry in the series since the original, with many critics calling out its surprise human element to go alongside the many gruesome scenes.
After being told he has only months to live due to terminal brain cancer, John Kramer (Bell) is given a lifeline when he learns of an experimental medical procedure that could save his life. Cruelly, it turns out to be a sinister scam, purposefully designed to defraud vulnerable patients. If there’s one man you don’t want to con, it’s John Kramer, and so he creates a new series of sadistic traps to turn the tables on the fraudsters and get his well-deserved revenge.
Watch “Saw X” on Netflix now
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