This article contains SPOILERS for the movie Saw X.
While Saw X presents an extremely strong narrative, one character completely undermines the horror movie’s message. The latest installation to the Saw franchise was released to high ratings from critics and audiences, breaking the trend of poorly received Saw movies. One of the biggest takeaways from the Saw X reviews is that the storyline felt refreshing and new, making it one of the best films in the series. Instead of acting as a despicable villain, John Kramer fights against the healthcare system and people who prey on the sick.
When a cancer-riddled Kramer gets dismissed by his healthcare providers in Saw X, he desperately turns to an experimental treatment method touted by a secret swindler named Dr. Cecilia Pederson. He pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to get surgery and vials of a medicine elixir with the promise that the treatment has a 90 percent success rate. When he learns of the con, Kramer decides to punish the people who are taking advantage of sick, vulnerable individuals. Unfortunately, the story of one of his victims – Gabriela – directly contradicts Saw X’s ending message.
Gabriela Lives With Opioid Use Disorder in Saw X
The character Gabriela is presented by Saw X as a con person, just like the others; however, her story is more complex. When Amanda and John Kramer show up to kidnap Gabriela, she’s buying opioids from a drug-dealing veterinarian. The man tells her this is the last time, and she gets frantic about losing her supply. This is the first hint in Saw X of the mental illness she lives with. Later, a quip is made about Gabriela needing opioids to survive. The scene quickly confirms that the young woman is living with an opioid use disorder – a factor that distinguishes her from the others.
Gabriela does participate in an extremely immoral scam in Saw X, and that isn’t okay. However, she isn’t entirely culpable for her actions. Opioid use disorder changes the way neurons communicate with each other, causing people in active addiction to behave in ways they may not otherwise (via NIDA). The fact that Gabriela apologizes to Kramer and expresses genuine remorse indicates that she behaved in a way that didn’t align with her own morals. Rather, she may’ve seen the con as a way to get more money for opioids. That would align with the uncontrollable drug-seeking behaviors symptom of opioid use disorder.
Even if the behavioral factor isn’t considered, the choice to torture Gabriela is still antithetical to the message about change. Trauma is a common trigger for addiction. Even if Gabriela survives Kramer’s games and goes back into society, the experience would likely worsen her opioid use disorder instead of making it better. Without mental health care, she’d increase her drug-seeking behaviors, harming others in the process. Kramer is simply worsening the situation by further traumatizing a person with an untreated mental illness.
Cecilia Preys On Gabriela Just Like She Did John Kramer
John Kramer makes it very clear through his actions that he thinks Gabriela is an abuser, not a victim. Unfortunately, Kramer’s perception of Gabriela ignores a number of factors that point to her also being a victim of Cecilia Peterson. Cecilia and Parker seemingly hire locals to participate in their con in Saw X, rather than employing a consistent team who goes with them from place to place. Living in an impoverished city, Gabriela would have difficulty accessing the treatment necessary to achieve recovery. Without that treatment, Gabriela’s opioid use disorder would make her vulnerable to psychological manipulation.
Moreover, Cecilia’s actions toward the cancer victims in Saw X prove that she has no qualms about manipulating vulnerable individuals. In fact, she intentionally finds the vulnerability of each person around her and uses it against them. This provides her with the upper hand. Putting all these elements together, it’s highly likely that Cecilia preyed on Gabriela’s mental illness initially and only killed her in Saw X‘s ending when she became inconvenient.
Gabriela’s Background May Undermine The Message But It Shows The Flaws In Kramer’s Morality
Though Gabriela participates in a horrible con in Saw X, she doesn’t appear to be a morally corrupt individual. Instead, she lives with a severe mental illness that impairs her impulse control and decision-making abilities. Kramer has the money to pay for treatment and could help Gabriela find an effective rehabilitation program. Rather than giving her the opportunity to heal from her opioid use disorder, though, John Kramer puts her in one of Saw X’s Jigsaw traps, just like the others.
It doesn’t matter to Kramer that a broken healthcare system also failed Gabriela. He seemingly doesn’t recognize that he and Gabriela are both at the mercy of a disease they didn’t choose. When his protégé Amanda points out how deeply drugs impact a person, Kramer completely disregards her. Ultimately, the way he treats Gabriela proves that the iconic villain is not the pinnacle of morality that Saw X makes him out to be. John Kramer might be the protagonist and – in some ways – the hero, but he’s just as dubious and corrupt as before.
