Spiral: From The Book of Saw (2021)

## Overview

During a Fourth of July parade, off-duty Detective Marv Bozwick chases a thief down a sewer drainage pipe. Attacked from behind by a figure wearing a pig mask, Bozwick awakens to find himself suspended by his tongue in an active subway tunnel and is given a choice via recorded message: tear out his tongue and live, or remain until the next train arrives, killing him. Unable to escape the trap in time, Bozwick is hit by the train and killed. The next day, police Captain Angie Garza assigns Detective Zeke Banks a new partner, idealistic rookie William Schenk. Banks and Schenk investigate Bozwick's death and Banks realizes this to be similar to the modus operandi of the now deceased Jigsaw Killer.

Meanwhile, a homicide detective named Fitch – who several years prior had ignored a backup call from Banks, resulting in him nearly getting killed – is abducted and placed in a trap where he must rip his fingers off to avoid electrocution in a filling water basin; he also fails to escape and dies. Some officers begin to suspect that Banks may be responsible, due to his history with Fitch. A box then arrives at the station, containing a pig puppet and a piece of Schenk's tattooed skin inside. A small vial inside the box directs the police to a butcher shop, which was previously a hobby shop where Banks and his father, retired chief Marcus Banks, would go. Upon arriving, the team discovers a tape recorder and a skinned corpse, identified as Schenk. Deciding to track down the killer himself, Marcus travels to a warehouse, where he is abducted. Shortly afterwards, Garza is kidnapped, and placed in a trap in the precinct's cold storage where she has to sever her spinal cord on a blade to stop hot wax flowing from a pipe onto her face. She fails to do so and dies from her injuries due to the boiling hot wax as Banks discovers her body.

While chasing a lead, Banks is captured and wakes up at the warehouse, handcuffed to a pipe with a hacksaw nearby. He considers sawing off his arm, but successfully escapes using a loose bobby pin. He then discovers Peter Dunleavy, his former partner who was fired and imprisoned when Banks exposed a murder he committed, chained in place. In front of him is a large glass-crushing machine, which has been modified to rapidly hurl shrapnel at him. A tape recorder explains that Banks can choose to either free him or leave him to die. Although Banks attempts to save Dunleavy, he cannot get the key in time. Moving to another room, Banks then finds Schenk, who is revealed to have faked his own death by using the skinned corpse of the thief who lured Bozwick into the tunnels, and has been the copycat all along. He explains that his last name is actually Emmerson, the son of Charlie Emmerson, who was the person Dunleavy shot and killed because he had agreed to testify against a dirty cop. He also reveals that Marcus, during his time as chief, deliberately protected corrupt officers to "clean" the streets of crime more efficiently under Article 8.

Believing that Banks can be an ally, William presents him with a final test, revealing Marcus restrained in the air and slowly being drained of blood. William calls 9-1-1 and claims that he is a civilian being pursued by a shooter, resulting in the dispatcher sending a SWAT team to his location. He hands Banks a revolver with one cartridge, and offers him the choice to either shoot a target that will save Marcus but allow William to escape, or to kill William and let his father bleed to death. Banks shoots the target to save Marcus, causing his restraints to loosen and lowering him to the ground, and then begins to fight William. Shortly after, the SWAT team arrives and inadvertently triggers a tripwire, causing Marcus' restraints to yank him upward again. The movement reveals a gun affixed to Marcus' arm, leading the SWAT team to mistake him for the shooter and kill him. Banks screams despairingly as William escapes.

## Cast

* Chris Rock as Detective Zeke Banks
* Max Minghella as Detective William Schenk / Emmerson
* Leonidas Castrounis as Young William
* Samuel L. Jackson as Marcus Banks
* Marisol Nichols as Captain Angie Garza
* Daniel Petronijevic as Detective Marv Bozwick
* Richard Zeppieri as Detective Fitch
* Patrick McManus as Peter Dunleavy
* Ali Johnson as Officer Jeannie Lewis
* Zoie Palmer as Kara Bozwick
* Dylan Roberts as Sergeant Morgey Silva
* K. C. Collins as Detective Drury
* Edie Inksetter as Detective Deborah Kraus
* Nazneen Contractor as Coroner Chada
* Thomas Mitchell as Detective Tim O'Brien
* Chad Camilleri as Benny Wrights
* Christopher Ramsay as Speez
* Frank Licari as Charlie Emmerson
* Genelle Williams as Lisa Banks
* Trevor Gretzky as Officer Pat Jones