‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ Review: A Disgusting Delight
The Final Destination franchise is inherently silly, but also one of the most consistent franchises in horror history. No matter how cheesy the dialogue or unlikeable the characters, nothing can eclipse how each film and its respective director(s) craft absolutely brutal and ridiculous death sequences that have shaped our very psyches (here’s looking at you, log truck). Now, almost 15 years after the release of Final Destination 5, directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, along with writers Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, have brought the franchise back in all of its disgustingly delicious glory with Final Destination: Bloodlines. The new film perfectly strikes the balance between an absolutely ridiculous horror blockbuster all about people dying in the freakiest ways, with endearing emotional beats to get you to care about this family without going too deep.
The film’s cold open begins in the past, with the opening of The Skyview restaurant and a young couple sneaking into the event for a night to remember. Well, in true Final Destination form, it’s definitely a night to remember, at least when it comes to a catastrophically high body count. Old women are lit on fire, people fall through a glass floor only to be impaled by metal rods below, grand pianos make pancakes of human flesh, the list goes on. And this is just the first setpiece!
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But it all ends with Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) waking up with a shriek. This isn’t your typical Final Destination premonition. This recurring nightmare has been plaguing her for two months, and it’s ruining her life. Her grades are slipping and her roommate is pissed off. Plus, all Stefani wants is just one good night’s sleep. The only clue is that the dream is from the perspective of her estranged grandma, Iris (Brec Bassinger), when she was a young woman.
So, of course, Stefani races home from school to get answers. But she’s not going to like those answers once she finds her grandma, who, in what feels like a parody of Halloween (2018), lives in a fortified cabin to keep Death at bay. Grandma Iris (Gabrielle Rose) reveals that Death has it out for their entire family. That means Stefani and her younger brother, Charlie (Teo Briones), as well as their estranged mother Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt), their uncle Howard (Alex Zahara), and his three kids, Erik (Richard Harmon), Julia (Anna Lore), and Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner).
Oh, and that dream Stefani keeps having? It’s the premonition Iris had before the disaster at The Skyview, meaning hundreds of people who should have died went on to live and have families, families that were never supposed to exist. So, slowly but surely, Death has come to collect, working his way through, you guessed it, bloodlines. And he’s ready to wreak some havoc with MRI machines, garbage trucks, lawnmowers, and so much more…
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Yes, the plot set-up is silly, but this is a franchise all about Death having a sick sense of humor and torturing those he sets his sights on. And Final Destination: Bloodlines isn’t afraid to poke fun at such an idea. Iris is constantly making quips at death, making fun of him for not getting her yet. Later, Stefani, armed with a massive guidebook to escaping death, compares Death to a math equation as she realizes she’s able to predict his moves based on her new studies. It’s a layer of awareness we haven’t seen in the franchise before, which only enriches the experience as the audience and the characters are on a more equal playing field in their respective knowledge of how Death operates, at least in this deranged universe.
In 2025, Death has really honed his craft and has developed quite a knack for delivering shocks and surprises aplenty. And that’s thanks to Lipovsky and Stein’s creativity and love of the craft. The craft here is both filmmaking and executing their characters in the most uniquely bizarre, entertaining, and anxiety-inducing ways humanly possible. They make sure to keep viewers on their toes and never want to deliver a predictable story. Plus, they’ve made this heavily pierced writer terrified of ever going near an MRI machine ever again. I won’t explain further.
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This sense of humor and self-awareness, paired with some of the best deaths of the entire franchise, make up for chunks of stilted dialogue and clunky exposition (this is a Final Destination movie after all). Writers Busick and Taylor balance the sincerity here, never pushing the narrative into something overly saccharine about breaking the cycles of trauma, while also making sure to endear these characters to us so we mourn their eventual demises rather than celebrate them.
That’s further supported by a great core cast of young actors, especially Harmon as Erik and Joyner as Bobby, who serve as our endearing comedic relief. Harmon shines as the elder emo and loveable family shithead with a grouchy attitude but a heart of gold hidden under a heavily tattooed exterior. Joyner is the perfect foil to Harmon as the baby brother and family himbo who loves his tortoise Paco with all of his heart. These little character details make these characters feel a bit more grounded before they’re plunged into a deeply unreal situation.
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But Tony Todd, of course, steals the show with a stellar scene that couldn’t be a more perfect send-off for the horror icon. He returns for one final appearance as franchise regular William John Bludworth, who always provides guidance to the teens and young adults in peril. But in Final Destination: Bloodlines, he’s ready to face death. Todd, visibly diminished due to his real-life illness, stands tall, speaking to both the characters and the audience alike about embracing life and not letting fear guide you. He holds his chin high, smiling in the face of death, unafraid of the next chapter. There’s truly no better send-off for both the iconic character and the horror icon himself, who changed the horror landscape as we know it.
While some parts of the film are clunky, Lipovsky and Stein ultimately deliver a glorious return to form for the franchise, one that’s full of twists, turns, and a pitch-perfect send-off for a cinema icon. Final Destination: Bloodlines works within franchise expectations while working to forge its own path of delightful destruction, one that leaves blood and limbs in its wake. If you can, make sure to watch in a crowded theater for a collective experience of gasps, shrieks, and exclamations of squeamish excitement.
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Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
Summary
With Final Destination: Bloodlines, Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein deliver a glorious return to form for the franchise, one that’s full of twists, turns, and a pitch-perfect send-off for a cinema icon.
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