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Saw (2004)

By Michael Schilf · November 1, 2010

Screenplay Genre: Horror / Mystery / Thriller

Movie Time: 103 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

Trapped inside a grimy industrial bathroom and chained to pipes with a dead body lying in a pool of blood between them, Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Leigh Whannell) play microcassette tapes left for them. Adam's tape asks, "Are you going to watch yourself die, or do something about it?" Gordon's tape reveals that he must kill Adam before 6 o'clock or his wife and daughter will die. (00:09:45)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

After a series of flashbacks where Gordon illustrates previous victims of the "Jigsaw Killer", he concludes that they are in fact Jigsaw's next victims. This is no joke. There will be no rescue. He has a single bullet, a hacksaw, and a revolver out of reach, with the clock ticking. Gordon must cut off his own foot and use the gun to kill Adam… or somehow find a flaw in Jigsaw's game. (00:29:33)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

In a flashback, Det. Tapp (Danny Glover) and Det. Sing (Ken Leung) break into Jigsaw's layer, where Sing saves a man from being lobotomized, but Jigsaw escapes, slicing Tapp's throat. Sing pursues, only to be obliterated by shotguns set on a tripwire. (00:49:47)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

The hour of 6PM strikes, and Gordon hears through a cell phone his wife and child screaming as gunshots are fired. Flung into a state of desperate insanity, Gordon follows the instructions by sawing off his foot and shooting Adam with the revolver. (1:10:30)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

Adam, now alone, searches the slain Zep (who was believed to be Jigsaw) for a key to his chains but instead finds another microcassette player. The tape informs Adam that Zep was also following Jigsaw's instructions, and Adam watches in horror as the dead body slowly rises and peels off the latex gunshot wound. This is the real Jigsaw. (1:35:49)