Detective Mark Hoffman is hailed as a hero for "surviving" a Jigsaw trap, but FBI Agent Peter Strahm becomes suspicious of his story. As Strahm investigates Hoffman's past, he discovers that Hoffman was Jigsaw's first apprentice, having committed a "copycat" murder that John Kramer later used for blackmail.
Simultaneously, five strangers—Ashley, Charles, Luba, Brit, and Mallick—wake up in a series of interconnected traps. They are told that "five will become one," a hint they misinterpret as meaning only one can survive. In reality, the game was designed for all five to cooperate and survive together. International Subtitles subtitle Saw V
The story picks up immediately after the events of Saw IV , following two primary threads: Detective Mark Hoffman is hailed as a hero