Saw Movie Series: The Complete Guide & Jigsaw Timeline

While the franchise started out as a low-budget horror movie, it takes a lot to have the Saw movies explained from the increasingly complicated timeline. Despite the franchise’s popularity, it hit a point where some critics complained that the further along the series progressed, the harder it was to keep up without having seen every entry in it, preferably recently. Whether that was a big issue is debatable, Saw definitely tried its best to tie everything together for most of its run in a way that other horror series didn’t always try.

For the first eight movies, the series all followed one relatively consistent Saw plot point centered around John “Jigsaw” Kramer. However, the spinoff ninth installment Spiral took place years later with a copycat killer of sorts. 2023’s Saw X pulls off the shocking move of bringing Jigsaw back into the fold despite the fact that he died way back in Saw III. Given his death, the movies that followed meant the series used a ton of flashbacks that can make things confusing for even the most focused of viewers.

Before Saw (2004)

Jigsaw’s Origins Date Back To 1994

Much of what unfolds in the Saw movies ties directly back to events that happened prior to 2004’s Saw. Before becoming Jigsaw, John was a successful civil engineer, while his wife Jill opened and ran the Homeward Bound Clinic. With a son on the way, John and Jill were happy, until an addict named Cecil Adams robbed the clinic in 1994, causing Jill to lose the baby.

This sent John into suicidal depression, starting the spiraling downward of his life. He developed brain cancer and due to a mistake by future apprentice Logan Nelson, and later a denial of care by insurance executive William Easton, was declared terminal. Amanda Young, another patient at Homeward Bound — who, unbeknownst to John, had talked Cecil into robbing the place — is abducted by John, and forced to pass a test involving the infamous reverse bear trap. She succeeds, emerges with a new appreciation for life, and joins John’s crusade.

Many of the events of
Jigsaw
also take place before
Saw X
and
Saw,
though the present timeline of the 2017 movie is set years later, long after John Kramer’s death.

During the same pre-Saw period, Detective Mark Hoffman attempts to frame Jigsaw for the murder of his sister’s killer, leading John to reveal himself and blackmail Hoffman into becoming another apprentice. Detective David Tapp subsequently gets drawn into the Jigsaw investigation, and after the death of his partner via a booby trap, becomes obsessed with taking Jigsaw down. To try and throw Tapp off, Hoffman and John attempt to frame Dr. Lawrence Gordon for the crimes.

Saw (2004)

The First Movie Takes Place In 2001

2004’s Saw sees John Kramer’s first major game begin in 2001, almost a decade after the accident that set him on the dark path to becoming the Jigsaw Killer. Dr. Lawrence Gordon and photographer Adam Stanheight are abducted by John and Amanda and trapped inside a disgusting bathroom. Adam had been hired to surveil Gordon previously by Detective Tapp, who’s hot on Jigsaw’s trail. Also roped in is Zep Hindle, an orderly who had worked at the hospital where John was treated.

Jigsaw demands Gordon kill Adam, or his kidnapped wife and daughter will die. Gordon fails, but Tapp arrives and his family survives. Tapp pursues Zep but gets shot, then Zep is killed by Adam. Finally, the masterstroke occurs, as John reveals he was the “dead body” in the room with them the whole time, long after Gordon sawed off his own foot to try and escape, and leaves the two men to die.

The 2001 date of the first
Saw
movie is mainly established by the date on the cellphone reading 09/10/01. However, there are some fans who simply believe John hadn’t changed the date on the phone, and that the movie takes place during the release year of 2004.

After the events of the first Saw movie, flashbacks later on in the franchise reveal that John returns and nurses Dr. Gordon back to health, who then becomes another apprentice — albeit one unknown to Jigsaw apprentices Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman. Additionally, Amanda kills Adam, without telling John, taking her first step towards becoming (in John’s eyes) an out-and-out serial killer.

Several characters who appear in future Saw movies also have some key events during this period. Detective Eric Matthews is investigated by internal affairs for abusing suspects and becomes the next major Jigsaw test subject, due to that and his tendency to lie under oath and put away innocent people. Bobby Dagen, the lead character of Saw 7, begins his own lies about surviving Jigsaw around this time too, while William Easton denies life-saving care to Harold Abbott, whose family would eventually decide to kill him to end Saw 6.

Saw X (2023)

Takes Place Shortly Before The Events Of Saw (With Some Overlap)

The latest installment in the franchise is 2023’s Saw X, and it marks a return to the series’ roots. Where Jigsaw and Spiral are the two installments to either barely feature John Kramer or not include him at all, Saw X puts him back in the forefront. Saw X is a prequel set between 2004’s Saw and 2005’s Saw 2. It shows one of John’s earliest games, with him taking revenge on several doctors who have been running a fraudulent medical center in Mexico.

The final moments of Saw X also show John setting up the trap for Dr. Gordon and Adam Stanheight with the help of Hoffman. Amanda also features heavily in Saw X, and it shows the first time she helped John set up and execute his tests and traps. The most recent Saw movie is shown to take place shortly before the events of Saw in the timeline, which places it roughly in 2001.

Saw 2 (2005)

The Second Saw Movie Takes Place In 2002

While no specific dates are given, it’s widely accepted that Saw II takes place around a year after Saw in the timeline, meaning that it’s set in 2002. John’s next big test occurs with Eric Matthews, who’s forced to watch as his teenage son and a bunch of people he wrongfully locked up face their own tests inside an abandoned house.

It turns out the footage being shown to Eric was pre-recorded, and his son was being kept inside a literal safe in the same room the whole time. After beating John to a bloody pulp, Eric is left locked inside the bathroom from the first Saw by Amanda, who participated in the game under the guise of a victim.

It’s between
Saw 2
and
Saw 3
and
4
that John’s health rapidly deteriorates too.

There are also several key events that, through flashbacks, have been revealed to have occurred after the events of Saw 2 in the six months between it and Saw 3 and 4. Immediately after the events of Saw 2, Eric manages to escape the bathroom but is badly injured in the process. He gets in a bloody fight with Amanda, who leaves him for dead, but Hoffman patches Eric up. Eric is kept locked away for months, while Detective Hoffman pretends to be investigating the Jigsaw case and Jill Tuck.

It’s also during this period that Dr. Gordon and John select brain surgeon Dr. Lynn Denlon for his next big game, which would revolve around her and her husband Jeff, whose son had been killed by a drunk driver. John also forces his slimy ex-lawyer Art Blank into service, while Amanda begins designing inescapable traps, going against John’s twisted ethics. It’s between Saw 2 and Saw 3 and 4 that John’s health rapidly deteriorates too.

Saw 3 (2006) & Saw 4 (2007)

Both Take Place In Late 2002, Six Months After Saw 2

Saw 3 and Saw 4‘s events need to be grouped together for clarity’s sake, as the two films take place simultaneously. Once more, there’s little to place both movies in a specific year, but it’s been confirmed they take place six months after Saw 2, meaning they occur in late 2002 in the Saw timeline. John is nearing death in this time period and knows he won’t be alive much longer. For her part, Jill begs him to give up his crusade, but he refuses.

There are several plot holes in the
Saw
timeline, one of which involves John’s death. While
Saw 3
and
Saw 4
must take place in 2002 by the franchise’s established timeline up until that point, a mortician’s tag on John Kramer’s corpse lists his death as occurring in 2006.

This is also the point that the relationships between John’s apprentices begin to break down, with Amanda and Hoffman at odds. Hoffman is angling to get Amanda out of the way, and he uses his knowledge of her involvement with John’s son’s death to accomplish that.

While Lynn and Jeff Denlon are being tested, police officer Daniel Rigg is taking part in his own series of tests, organized by Hoffman, and involving Eric Matthews. Rigg is then framed for the Jigsaw killings. Lynn and Jeff are both ultimately killed, the latter by FBI Agent Peter Straham in a misunderstanding after Jeff had just caused Jigsaw’s death. Amanda also died, as did Eric and Rigg, leaving Hoffman to take over as the new Jigsaw.

Saw 5 (2008)

The Next Saw Movie Takes Place In 2003

Saw V starts shortly after the events of Saw III and Saw IV, with the consensus that they must therefore be set in 2003 in the Saw timeline. Agent Strahm is attacked from behind and placed in a Water Cube trap by Hoffman, but manages to escape via improvised tracheotomy with a pen. Hoffman “saves” Jeff and Lynn’s kidnapped daughter Corbett, and becomes a hero in the press, but Strahm rapidly becomes suspicious of him. John leaves behind a posthumous tape that informs Hoffman of what’s to come.

The central test and its subjects aren’t really the story in Saw 5, as the focus is on Hoffman’s attempts to stay ahead of Strahm and his partner Agent Perez, who fakes her death in order to try and trip Hoffman up. Strahm catches up to Hoffman, but the latter gets the last laugh, as Strahm fails a rather simple test and gets crushed to death.

Saw 6 (2009)

The Sixth Saw Movie Is Also Set In 2003

Very little time passes between Saw V and Saw VI, meaning that it’s highly likely both took place in 2003 in the Saw timeline. Saw 6‘s central game tests William Easton, who’s forced to reckon with his company’s history of denying life-saving care and always picking money over humanity. Meanwhile, Hoffman uses Strahm’s severed hand to try and frame him for the Jigsaw murders.

Perez and her FBI boss Erickson eventually catch him red-handed, but Hoffman kills everyone in the room and then burns it to destroy the evidence. Unknown to him though, John had instructed Jill to place Hoffman in the Saw reverse bear trap as his own test and had also asked Dr. Gordon to act in case anything were to happen to Jill. Hoffman survives to set up the next movie.

Saw 7 (2010)

The Movie Also Known As Saw 3D Takes Place In 2004

Once more, there’s not much time that passes between Saw VII (also known as Saw 3D) and Saw VI, meaning that the 7th Saw film probably occurs in early 2004, or late 2003 at the earliest. After patching himself up, Hoffman targets Jill, but not before she seeks help from internal affairs cop Mark Gibson, who had seen Hoffman shoot a man years prior. Sadly, police protection doesn’t end up being enough.

The central game sees self-help guru and purported Jigsaw survivor Bobby Dagen put through a series of tests due to his ongoing lies. Hoffman massacres a bunch of cops, using Dagen’s game as a ploy to get Gibson away from the police station and get himself in, before killing Jill with the Reverse Bear Trap. The joke is on Hoffman though, as Gordon abducts him and leaves him to die in the original Saw bathroom.

Jigsaw (2017)

Set In 2010 (Although This Is A Point Of Contention In The Fanbase)

2017’s Jigsaw, the eighth Saw movie, is where the timeline gets incredibly complicated and has led to some serious plot holes with the chronology. Jigsaw takes place eight years after John’s death, although it features yet another character who turns out to be working for Jigsaw. The central game seen onscreen in Jigsaw, run by previously unknown apprentice Logan Nelson, actually occurred sometime before the first Saw movie.

The “present day” timeline of the movie is set in 2010 — in theory, at least, if the phone-date timeline established in 2004’s Saw is followed. If viewers believe John’s death occurred in 2006 rather than 2002, as per the morticians’ tag, then it’s set around 2014. Regardless of the specific year, in the present-day events of Jigsaw, an older Logan frames a corrupt cop named Detective Hallorann for the new killings, as revenge for Hallorann letting a killer go free that later murdered Logan’s wife. Ultimately, Nelson is never mentioned again.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Set An Unspecified Length Of Time After John Kramer’s Death

Spiral is set in the same area, an unclear number of years after the events of Jigsaw. Outside the new killer William Schenk lifting some of John’s methods, there’s no other direct connection between the two characters or the prior Saw stories. It’s revealed that years before Spiral, protagonist Detective Zeke Banks witnessed his partner Peter Dunleavy murder a witness.

Zeke exposed Dunleavy, making him a pariah in the overall corrupt force. Dunleavy’s victim, a man named Emmerson, was actually William’s father, and William took up Jigsaw’s mantle as an adult in order to clean up the police department. His end goal was to enlist Zeke as an accomplice after testing him, but Zeke refused, and his former corrupt chief father died as a result.

When Will Saw XI Be Set?

The Latest Sequel Is Expected In 2025

Saw X may be the most recent Saw movie, but it’s not the end of the franchise. Saw 11 is confirmed and is currently in development, though nothing has been revealed about the story yet, including where it will fit into the wider Saw timeline. However, given the success of Saw X as a prequel, it seems likely that Saw XI will follow the same route. Tobin Bell as John Kramer has been a key part of the draw of the Saw movies, and those that don’t heavily feature him have, historically, been far less successful.

Should it be a prequel, then Saw XI will likely take place after the events of 2004’s Saw, given that the final shots of Saw X were of the first Jigsaw test audiences were introduced to being set up. Saw XI being a prequel would also present an opportunity to bring Logan Nelson from Jigsaw further into the fold, explaining his place in the wider Saw canon more thoroughly.

Where Potential Saw Spinoffs Would Land On The Timeline

With the success of Saw X in 2023, the long-running horror movie franchise will continue to have a future with some enticing possible spinoffs on the way. After the character of Mark Hoffman made his return in the post-credit scene of Saw X, producers indicated their plans to have the franchise continue with a movie focused on Hoffman (via Dexterto). They also confirmed that one Saw X character was kept alive for the future with Cecilia set up as a potential returning foe (via Slashfilm).

If this is the direction the franchise is heading in, there are some questions about how it will affect the timeline. Hoffman’s fate in the Saw franchise, like Cecilia’s, was left in question as he was locked in Saw‘s iconic basement prison to presumably die. This would suggest that his return would have to be a prequel taking place earlier in the timeline, and with Cecilia possibly returning, it would take place after the events of Saw X.

However, it would seem strange to make a prequel about Hoffman as so much of the character’s backstory has already been explored in flashbacks. Instead, it could be revealed that both Hoffman and Cecilia escaped being left to die and the events could take place at the end of the Saw timeline. With both John Kramer and Amanda dead, Cecilia could come looking to exact revenge on the man who took up the Jigsaw mantle in their absence.