FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES (2025)
Plagued by a recurring nightmare, a college student returns home to find the one person who can break the cycle and save her family from the horrific fate that awaits them.
In one of the many funeral services within this franchise, the importance of time and how to spend it wisely is brought up. It’s a theme well explored where premonitions of imminent death speed people through the stages of grief regarding their own mortality. Time is also relevant to the legions of horror fans who have been waiting 14 years since the last entry, Final Destination 5 (2011). A solid sequel that tactfully painted itself as a celebratory send-off. Like every twist ending, Death never gives up on his plans but rests dormant until we least suspect it. Final Destination Bloodlines offers origins and revelations that never fully transform its predecessors and serves as another perfectly decent sequel.
Promises of sequels arose as early as 2011 with series stalwart Tony Todd revealing plans for two further entries filmed back-to-back. A first responders centred disaster was floated, as were ominous industry terms like “reboot” and “re-imagining” which are odd to dread given how nebulous the canon has always been. Franchise producer Craig Perry and story writer Jon Watts finally saw the signs for their next Final Destination when prospective directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein staged their own accidental deaths in an ingenious pre-recorded Zoom pitch meeting.
Bloodlines follows Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) who learns of a grand conspiracy of accidental deaths all tracing back to her grandmother who prevented a disaster in the 1960s. Hundreds of lives saved, all each starting new families that never should have been born. With almost everyone now wiped out, Stefani realises her family is next and does everything she can to protect them from Death lurking round the corner.
Written by Guy Busick (Ready or Not) and Lori Evans Taylor, the former also behind the post-2022 Scream sequels, they know about keeping grisly brutalities fresh and exciting. The first distinction from the other films is the opening disaster being set in the past, but 50+ years does not distance the audience at all from the action. Learning from the suspension bridge of Final Destination 5, the elevated restaurant here is vertigo inducing. Bloodlines wastes no time with young Iris (Brec Bassinger) and boyfriend Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones) arriving under the towering set-piece. Promises of reinforced concrete, ominous max capacity lift signs, and an overheard mention of “bad luck” start to tie knots in your stomach. The dizzying sights through the glass floors, though glossy VFX, will still trick your brain and turn your stomach right over.
The sickening effect thanks to cinematographer Christian Sebaldt perseveres through the extended Mouse Trap game as partygoers are corralled from one gory spectacle to the next. A far cry from the realistic and abrupt plane explosion of the first Final Destination (2000), there’s something strangely supernatural about this apparently natural disaster. But with the sixth film in, Lipovksy and Stein realise audiences are prepared for spotting every deceptively innocuous cause in anticipation for consequences and so the extreme unluckiness suits the dark humour throughout. And it’s dark. Audiences once shocked by Final Destination 2 (2003) going ‘there’, will now be excited for it becoming one of the funniest punchlines of Bloodlines.
The only shame is how effective this opening is. The film may have peaked here for some, only matched by a couple of other sequences that come close in sustained intimacy. But then Final Destination has always played with pacing between anxiety and shock inducing moments and the deaths deliver a variety of exhilarating rushes. The family is politely warned “you f**k with Death and things get messy” and that is a promise. Those sensitive to dead teenager movies will find themselves squirming in their seats and peeking through their fingers at some of these particularly nasty kills. There’s piercing pulling, barefoot glass stepping, and 71-year-old stuntwoman Yvette Ferguson came out of retirement to be set on fire. As an MRI machine whirs to life, a character astutely acknowledges “that’s cruel…”
But the creativity runs deeper than what everyday objects pierce which part of the body—the innovations within the formula keep even the die-hards on the edge of their seats. Bloodlines prolongs our expectations with red herrings and false finishes that refrain the sequel from a lazy conveyor belt of accidents. With eyes already glued to the screen scanning for every detail, attentive fans are rewarded with nods and references to past entries. People have already begun to praise one moment; see if you can spot which death cleverly homages a poster from one of the earlier films.
Of course, it helps to like the characters before they all inevitably meet their maker. Bloodlines capitalises on the family dynamic that brings the cast closer together than any film before. There was surely note taken from the sibling interplay of Final Destination 3 (2006). The introductory sequence deftly establishes their personalities and familiarity, which then serves themes of emotional issues and isolation. Stefani, mother Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt), and Grandma Iris (Gabrielle Rose) all share the same struggle of distancing themselves and it gives the actors plenty to work with outside of sheer panic and trauma.
In a post-Halloween (2018) age, it’s remarkable that, aside from a mention of “sick”, nobody ever explicitly states mental illness or trauma. For the longest runtime of a Final Destination, they still don’t have time for a nuanced take that somebody could be right that Death is rooting against them and they also could do with talking to somebody.
The most notable and beloved casting is Tony Todd, returning for what would be the final time. Passing away in November of 2024, the gaunt veteran was at no loss of charisma and gravitas delivering more enigmatic advice to the hopeful survivors. An aspect that fans have been clamouring for over 25 years has been some expansion behind the mysterious mortician. Only fitting that Bloodlines presciently fulfils this wish granting Todd a well-deserved moment to flex his effortless talent. The playful sinister façade drops allowing fiction and reality to coincide as the sentiment on life and death rings especially true. The moment comes close to saccharine with Tim Wynn’s score verging into Avengers territory, it doesn’t fit the tone within the story, but I shan’t resent the filmmakers paying tribute to a colossal presence.
Bloodlines does attempt some mythologising within the franchise, but not to the degree some are hoping for. Those scouring over paused trailers, reading every line of Iris’ notes for surviving Death, are setting themselves up for disappointment. Her book absolutely sets up the story and spurs emotional ramifications within the family, but doodles of trucks are nothing more than blink-and-you’ll-miss-it easter eggs. That said, it becomes quite apparent which Final Destination is the favourite of these filmmakers as it gets far more love than any other film. Perhaps too much.
The first teasers for Bloodlines were right to highlight the glass shard in the ice as nauseatingly plausible impending injury. But then posters began to reference the lumber truck from Final Destination 2, they began driving actual lumber trucks in the real world with promotions of Bloodlines on them, there’s a lumber truck jump-scare in the very trailer for this. Yes, people have been terrified of driving behind those lumber trucks for 22 years, but it was 22 years ago. Referencing it so heavily in this new film is making audiences think about a different film instead of enjoying the one they are currently watching. Bloodlines actually does feature the most common everyday object, a penny, as one of Death’s most useful tools of destruction. It even influences the graphic art of the credits, so promote that and make the new Final Destination feel more original.
Final Destination Bloodlines is neither the best nor worst entry in the franchise—and that should not be held against it. The sheer concept permits New Line Cinema to churn out sequels every year. Anticipation is a powerful tool and after 14 years, the trailer for a new Final Destination became the second most watched horror trailer, after It (2017), with 178M views. They take their time finding the right accidents with the perfect balance between relatable and unimaginable, yet still provide the same cause and effect mayhem established 25 years ago. The fact that Warner Bros. are playing previews with a double bill of the original suggests a clear confidence in this entry. There are twists and turns but this is still another Final Destination film. Bloodlines will service the same people who enjoyed the last five, and disgust the people who hated the last five.
Perhaps a character or their death will tilt this into becoming someone’s new favourite. I’ve never been into ranking franchises, but I predict this may comfortably slide into the middle somewhere. Reports of reshoots do substantiate a slightly lacklustre finale, which may feel more egregious to some, but the denouement is what fascinates me. More so the early reactions I’ve been reading on social media; they want trilogies, entire 1960s-set prequels, and recurring survivors. It shows that people appreciate the effort behind this new film, but Bloodlines isn’t Avengers: Infinity War (2018). I hope the franchise never becomes that. These are by-and-large self-contained horror films designed for us to find perverse enjoyment in seeing the cast get wiped out in bloody fashion. God help us when we need to stream the limited series to fully understand the reason somebody gets their head run over by a lawnmower.
This over-eagerness by the fans can be understood with the tantalising premise. There’s nothing better than watching a film like this in the cinema and overhearing that mid-credit chatter about all the suspicious signs in their own real lives. One person behind me boasted of their pilot brother with a peanut allergy. Everyone has their own Final Destination in their minds, and this one might just be the one you’ve been waiting for.
USA • CANADA | 2025 | 110 MINUTES | 2.39:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH
Cast & Crew
directors: Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein.
writers: Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor (story by Jon Watts, Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor).
starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger & Tony Todd.
