Wire report

‘A bit like meditation’: why Saw is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers picking their go-to comfort films is a grimy and gory trip back to the start of a surprisingly uplifting torture porn franchise I was petsitting recently for a white suburban family, with the typical streaming habits therein. They had two kids; their most-watched shows, according to the history that showed up on the screen, were Bluey for the kids and The Office for the adults. When they came home from their weeklong trip, they would’ve found their watch history upheaved. The Bingos and Michael Scotts all erased by Saw I, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw 3D, Saw Spiral, Saw Jigsaw and, finally, my new favourite, Saw X. I was obsessed with the Saw franchise well before I ever saw it. At 11, as Jigsaw puppets became Halloween costumes, I went to bed each night convinced Jigsaw was going to scoop me up in a van because the word “hell”a popped i

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Why it mattersCulture

The latest in our series of writers picking their go-to comfort films is a grimy and gory trip back to the start of a surprisingly uplifting torture porn franchise I was petsitting recently for a white suburban family, with the typical streaming habits therein. They had two kids; their most-watched shows, according to the history that showed up on the screen, were Bluey for the kids and The Office for the adults. When they came home from their weeklong trip, they would’ve found their watch history upheaved. The Bingos and Michael Scotts all erased by Saw I, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw 3D, Saw Spiral, Saw Jigsaw and, finally, my new favourite, Saw X. I was obsessed with the Saw franchise well before I ever saw it. At 11, as Jigsaw puppets became Halloween costumes, I went to bed each night convinced Jigsaw was going to scoop me up in a van because the word “hell”a popped i

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According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘A bit like meditation’: why Saw is my feelgood movie, The latest in our series of writers picking their go-to comfort films is a grimy and gory trip back to the start of a surprisingly uplifting torture porn franchise I was petsitting recently for a white suburban family, with the typical streaming habits therein. They had two kids; their most-watched shows, according to the history that showed up on the screen, were Bluey for the kids and The Office for the adults. When they came home from their weeklong trip, they would’ve found their watch history upheaved. The Bingos and Michael Scotts all erased by Saw I, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw 3D, Saw Spiral, Saw Jigsaw and, finally, my new favourite, Saw X. I was obsessed with the Saw franchise well before I ever saw it. At 11, as Jigsaw puppets became Halloween costumes, I went to bed each night convinced Jigsaw was going to scoop me up in a van because the word “hell”a popped i

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-08-24T09:00:28+00:00.

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Primary source: ‘A bit like meditation’: why Saw is my feelgood movie via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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