Jigsaw
2017 · Directed by Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Original language: English
- horror
- mystery
The story
Law enforcement finds itself chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade, embroiled in a diabolical new game that's only just begun.
What it’s like
Cold, grimy interiors lit by sickly fluorescents and the flat blue of police-station monitors, with the frame kept tight and restless as detectives move through warehouses, sealed rooms and rain-slick streets. The palette is desaturated grey and rust, the camera often handheld, and the sound design leans on metallic clanks, ticking mechanisms, a distorted electronic voice and a pulsing, percussive score that spikes hard at each reveal. Pacing is brisk and lurching, built around set-piece traps and flashback cutaways that interrupt the investigation's procedural rhythm. Tone is grim, mean-spirited and sardonic rather than dreadful in a quiet way. Intensity is high: graphic gore, sadistic torture and deaths staged as elaborate, lingering mechanical punishments, plus suicide by hanging and frequent peril. It is not gentle, and nothing about it is restful. It suits viewers who want a nasty, twisty, gore-forward thriller with a puzzle-box hook, rather than anyone seeking mood or atmosphere alone.
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