Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein

Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt

Plagued by a recurring violent 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 inevitably awaits them.

If you’re a fan of the series, you know the recipe (for disaster) only too well by now. But being the 6th film in the franchise, how can it possibly still feel original? Well, here’s the interesting thing: they used an old recipe, but added a few new ingredients, and voila! the film feels delightfully fresh.

In one of the most impressive prologues in the series yet, we witness absolute chaos as a high-rise tower collapses with dozens of people inside. It is a spectacular scene as the tower collapses and patrons get killed in the most graphic ways! Stefani has recurring nightmares of a young girl named Iris going on a date with her boyfriend, Paul, to the opening ceremony of the SkyView restaurant. In a series of events planned by Death itself, the tower collapses killing everyone – Iris being the last to die.

Iris is Stefani’s Grandmother and Stefani decides to find her to enquire about the events. Iris’ family has long since abandoned Iris because of her fear of death coming after her and her family, but Stefani is determined to meet with her. Iris has been living in solitude for about 50 years and hasn’t left her house in over 20 years. She hands Stefani a book containing her notes on how to sense – and even cheat – Death.

Iris was meant to die and her family therefor never should have existed. In her premonition, Iris was the last to die, and now with her gone, Death will come for her descendants. It is up to Stefani to find a way for her and her family to cheat death long enough to break the chain.

I enjoyed the fact we are dealing with a family in this installment, and not random strangers. It made me root for them even more. We also have a chance to get to know them before fate intervenes. The family drama in a way grounds the movie, making it feel more realistic. But hey, as much as we like the characters, we watch these movies to see them die. And the death sequences do not disappoint. They are gory and graphic and very well done.

The family’s paranoia was maybe a bit exaggerated, but it sort of allowed for a bit of comic relief in an otherwise humour-free horror. (Not that I necessarily want humour in a horror; normally I don’t, in fact.) ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ is a welcome return for the franchise and one of the best in the series. (The first film is probably still my favourite, and I also really enjoyed ‘Final Destination 5’.

‘Bloodlines’ has a good soundtrack with carefully selected songs. The great visuals, good story, likeable characters and excellent practical effects allow for a very entertaining film – and with the success of this installment there’s bound to be more, and I can’t wait!

Still far too early to mention awards of box office stats, but at the time of writing this review the film earned $102 million on a $50 million budget – after just 3 days at the box office.

Would I watch it again? Yes.