"Final Destination: Bloodlines" - No fate but what we make.

Josh
May 22, 2025
6 min read

Updated: Jun 7, 2025

Zach Lipovsky; Adam B. Stein (2025)

And you don't even want to fuck with that MacDaddy.

Final Destination: Bloodlines being as successful as it has been, critically and financially, was not on my bingo card for the year. In our current world of remakes and soft reboots, ranging in quality, seeing a Final Destination movie returning into the pop culture zeitgeist wasn’t a surprise. It was a surprise that it took 14 years for another one to return to the silver screen, instead of the standard length of about 3 years. And it’s returned as the highest-grossing and is being critically praised (while typing this), with general viewers calling it a magnificent return for the franchise. But is it? Well, lucky you’ve come to me, the foremost expert on the Final Destination franchise. This franchise was one of the earliest horror movies I got into back in my early, early high school days. I had collected them all on DVD, including the choose-your-own-adventure special edition of Final Destination 3 and the red/blue 3D edition of The Final Destination. But what made me a true expert was in grade 7, when I wrote a short story based on a Final Destination opening. My tragedy was about a bridge collapsing. And it wasn’t until months later, while reading a magazine of recent and upcoming movies from the local Video Ezy, that I discovered that a new Final Destination was about to be released. A Final Destination movie is about a bridge collapsing. And yes, what I wrote was spot on to their opening. At the time, I thought it was pretty cool, but when I look back, it feels strange to think the writers had the creativity of a seventh grader.

*Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025). Courtesy of New Line Cinema*

With each entry into the franchise, there's a twist to the rules. Premonitions present themselves in photographs, people die in reverse order, or people can be saved from death via a specific task. Bloodlines takes the twist of having Death removing everyone who should not exist generationally after a large number of people were saved from an accident. Which in of itself feels like a meta commentary on the frequently memed generational trauma caused by some of the horrific deaths from various entries in the franchise. And that's our theme for this movie: generational trauma. While the other movies have the frequent theme almost pulled from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), “no fate but what you make” type of deal. When faced with death and having to deal with the thought of your time to dance with the Grim Reaper, you can try all you want to avoid it, but death is coming for us all. Bloodlines takes it a step further to show how the fear of death and experiences influence the lives of your family. Overprotective parents implant the thought in the heads of their children to see the worst in life. Seeing death as a negative thing rather than viewing it as having a positive look, to make the most of the minimal time we have on this Earth.

And no scene touches on this more than our bitter-sweet appearance of the legendary Tony Todd. A man who has been a staple in this franchise from the start now gets his last moment to shine, both in the series and as an actor. It's obvious in the scene that he is sickly, as he has lost his imposing stature, yet he has not lost his presence that is felt through his voice. As almost talking through the lens and to the audience and fans, he gives a speech about the value of one's life. Don't waste it because when your time has come (speaking naturally), don't be afraid, as we all need to go.

This moment was one of the few times in which the movie slowed down, as the pacing for this movie is fast. With a runtime of almost 2 hours, directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein really wanted to make sure we got the kills as soon as possible. It's understandable with the time jump structure of the screenplay, but we have very little time with our main character before her quest to save everyone. The open jumps right into the tragedy, set in the 60s with the opening of the Skyview Restaurant Tower, yet rather than jumping backwards to prevent it all, we jump forward years later to Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who's having dreams about this event. The focal character of the dream is her Grandmother, played by Bec Bassinger and then later on, Gabrielle Rose.

Stefani’s character is pretty much to be worried constantly, which doesn't happen over time, but right from our first introduction to her. Even when she gets around to meeting her family, there's minimal time spent on their dynamic, but just enough to show her distance from them. It's short-lived as she instantly starts asking questions about her supposed premonitions. Unlike past protagonists, we spend time with them before their life-changing event, Stefani is more one-note. Other characters have a bit more going on personality-wise, but again, they don't have much going for them other than small “memorable” traits often found within a slasher. With dialogue that is… at the best of times passable, but so on the nose it hurts.

But what makes a Final Destination worth watching? Well, as a certified Final Destination expert still waiting for a writing credit, you’ve come to the right place. There is a fine balance between making a death believable whilst convoluted enough that it subverts your expectations with each phase of Death's Rube Goldberg trap. For me, I find the simpler deaths to be most effective. The ones that remind you that this could happen do you within your everyday life. But when they get more extreme deaths, you need to assume that everyone has little to no spatial awareness, whilst assuming that the world's safest objects suddenly become deadlier than a firearm. While Bloodlines had nothing that created a new fear, it did have entertaining deaths. Following tradition, each scene is full of extreme close-ups of mundane objects, setting the stage for a sound designer's wet dream with the most exaggerated sounds imaginable. Unlike previous entries, this one felt like it leaned more into comedy. So much so, there is a shot that looks like it was ripped right out of a Zucker brothers movie with exposition happening in the foreground and a death happening way off in the background.

But what else makes a Final Destination movie unique? Well, inconsistent rules, of course. A seemly simple premise has been butchered and taped back together over the years to the point it's best not to think about the details. I would argue that you should think about those details and not be lazy, but I would forgive someone for only focusing on the surface-level ruleset. You avoid death, then you'll die in the order you should've during the accident. This one pulls from previous instalments, specifically 2 and 5, with the rules to avoid death via dying and getting resuscitated or taking someone else's life in place of your own. Yet, either Death is a massive troll or he doesn't know how his rule book. Not going to spoil but there are some twists that seem interesting on the surface, but when you think about how the rest of the movie has functioned, it starts to fall apart a little.

Seeing a return of a franchise I have long forgotten about, only to be remembered in passing conversation, for another take on the possibilities of the premise. I only hope this isn't a fad due to the rising meme of the log truck and the “scene that traumatised a generation”. But rather, we have an authentic and creative focus on the franchise. Because if we've learnt anything from desperate companies trying to appeal to people to watch videos vertically, it comes across as pathetic short-term thinking.