Anyway, I’ll briefly go over the main story that stretches across the entire film series: the main perpetrator of violence and cruel torture games in the story is John Kramer (cleverly nicknamed Jigsaw, by media and police in the movie). Kramer was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer (I believe this is revealed in Saw II or maybe III) and also lost his unborn child due to an accident that happened during a robbing of his wife’s’ rehab clinic. The accident drove Kramer to attempt suicide – he drove off a cliff, but miraculously survived. Since then, Kramer dedicated his life to “a form of rehabilitation” that puts his victims in really twisted, yet clever, torture situations in which they must die, kill and/or suffer trying to survive the “game”. If they survive, the victims of Jigsaw are supposed to be rehabilitated – instantly finding a new value for life. The films are centered around many characters that either do not appreciate life (theirs or others’) or take basic things in their lives for granted. I will leave the story description at that, since a great part of watching the Saw films are the twists and turns in its plot.

And like all Saw movies, part VI contains some very conspicuous moral and social commentary. I guess this is one of the reasons I’ve come to appreciate the film series.

I think this new film brings up some completely relevant issues about our society; namely the cold hearted manner in which the healthcare industry is run. The main player in Jigsaw’s latest game is a health insurance executive for “Umbrella Health”, named William Easton. Along with a team of 6 researchers, Easton is dedicated to finding discrepancies in people’s medical histories in order to deny them coverage in times of real need – maximizing profit. He also devises a math equation that helps him decide who will get coverage and who will not. In the “game” Easton is forced to make decisions on who will live or die, much like he does at Umbrella, except this time he is face to face with his victims –watching them suffer. It seems that Jigsaw’s goal is to get Easton to realize the effects his decisions (as a healthcare executive) have on people and their families. At the end of the “game” he comes face to face with the family of one of his very own victims - Harold. Early in the film one learns that Harold – a long time client of “Umbrella Health” –was diagnosed with a fatal heart condition that could have been treated resulting in his saved life, but he was dropped from coverage because the insurance company had found out he had some mouth illness and surgery years before. “Umbrella Health” decided that somehow the mouth illness could have lead to gum disease, which in turn could have lead to heart disease. Harold dies because he could not afford treatment. “It’s just policy” is a phrase repeated by Easton. One also learns that the same company and the same executive denied Jigsaw a chance at beating his cancer, because they would not offer him coverage for an alternative cancer treatment.

Now, I am not advocating anything like the torture scenes one can view in Saw movies. This is totally fictional- horror-movie-entertainment, and should never be condoned in real life. I do hope, though, that some health insurance company executives watch the film and pick up on the message the film writers dish out (intentionally or unintentionally), because while Saw VI is pure fantasy, the vicious health industry portrayed in the film is quite real. And I am sure many could relate to Harold’s family.

Health for profit is inhumane and should be done away with. The Health industry must account for people’s needs not potential profits.

Personally, I think Saw VI is the best of the film franchise so far. The story comes together really well. A warning though, Saw movies are always quite violent and graphic and Saw VI is definitely no exception. Imagine: it was given an “X” rating in Spain – essentially banning the film. Personally, I think that this rating is a bit unfair to the filmmakers and their fans.