Bringing a 14-year-old franchise back from the dead (quite literally) is no easy task, but Final Destination: Bloodlines pulls it off flawlessly with its signature killer style. While most sequels and reboots tend to stumble or feel totally pointless nowadays, Final Destination Bloodlines sprints straight into extreme chaos and in a good way. Death is back more vengeful than ever, and it’s got an entire family bloodline on its hit list this time. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, joined by a talented cast including Brec Bassinger, Richard Harmon, Teo Briones, and Owen Joyne, serve exactly what fans have been waiting for after a decade’s wait. Final Destination: Bloodlines is gnarly, it’s unhinged, it’s wildly fun and it’s everything a Final Destination comeback should be.
The Plot Of Final Destination: Bloodlines
Final Destination: Bloodlines sticks to the traditional formula: someone cheats death with a premonition, saves multiple unlucky souls, only to get hunted down one by one in a deadly game where the only true winner is Death itself. However, in past films, it was just Death and the audience in on the secret. But the twist this time is that the characters are fully aware of their ticking fate towards doom, and that makes the panic all the more fun.
The film kicks off with a retro flashback to the swinging ’60s, where lovebirds Iris (Brec Bassinger) and Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones) are on their way to a romantic night at the Skyview. But things seem off from the get-go: a jam-packed elevator, an open-flame kitchen, a suspiciously fragile glass dance floor hanging 100 feet above ground, and a mischievous kid with a coin. It’s like a domino sequence leading towards a perfectly orchestrated death party. Iris snaps out of deadly her vision and warns people of the coming incident, and saves the day.
Cut to the present, where college student Stef Campbell (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) starts having vivid nightmares about that very night. Seeking answers, she tracks down her now eccentric and aging grandmother Iris, who tells her that death has come to everyone who survived that night and Iris is next in line. When Iris dies in a freak accident, Death finds its next target: her entire bloodline, Stef and her family.
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Performances
The cast shines across the board, bringing the horror and also the humour of their doomed fates to life with pitch-perfect intensity. Kaitlyn Santa Juana delivers a grounded, compelling performance as Stef, a terrified yet determined protagonist suddenly tasked with outsmarting Death to save her entire family bloodline. Richard Harmon steals scenes as cousin Erik, bringing humour to the chaos with his witty one-liners and spot-on comedic timing. And in a bittersweet moment for longtime fans, Tony Todd makes his final, iconic appearance as William Bludworth, the enigmatic Candyman of the Final Destination universe. The extended ensemble also does a fantastic job at balancing the shifting tone of the film, often teetering between sheer panic and absurd hilarity of the situation.
Verdict: A Gory Ride Which Will Have You Flinching With Adrenaline
From inventive new deaths involving MRI machines, garbage trucks, and lawn mowers, to the over-the-top gore that makes you gag and cover your eyes, Final Destination: Bloodlines has everything that made the previous movies a cult classic. The cinematography and CGI are impressively gruesome, putting human anatomy on full display in ways you’ll wish you could unsee. The sound score perfectly aligns with the eerie buildups and ironic musical contrasts at times only heighten the tension. Living up to its name, Bloodline, the film also touches upon family drama. Emotional bonds take the spotlight in between all the chaos, offering a new layer to the usual formula. Yes, you’ll see the ending coming from miles away but you’ll still jump when it hits. And if the movie does its job right (which it does), you’ll spend the ride home nervously eyeing every mundane object, imagining all the ridiculous ways you could die next. Final Destination: Bloodlines is now playing in theatres near you!