Final Destination: Bloodlines understands the assignment
Directed by Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
Written by Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon Watts
Starring Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Tony Todd, Teo Briones
Classification R; 110 minutes
Given the steady stream of horror reboots that have been released in the past decade, it's no surprise to see a reimagining of the 2000s' sleepover classic Final Destination – also known as the gleefully gory freak-accident franchise that caused a generation of viewers to develop an innate fear of driving behind logging trucks.
Originally conceived as an episode of Chris Carter's 1990s' sci-fi television series The X-Files, the idea behind Final Destination took on a life of its own, bending and twisting its vision of 'death's design' over the course of five instalments, beginning with the first movie in 2000 and ending in 2011 with Final Destination 5.
With the release of Final Destination: Bloodlines, director duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein (the filmmaker/writer pair behind the 2018 independent sci-fi horror film Freaks) re-envision the series for audiences both new and returning. Appropriately, the pair are joined by a screenwriting team that includes Guy Busick, the pen behind two other recently refreshed sequels ('reboot-quels'?): 2022's Scream and 2023's Scream VI.
Bloodlines kicks off its story quickly, introducing viewers to Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana of The CW's The Flash), a college student who suffers from debilitating nightmares of a freak accident involving her grandmother back in the 1960s. Raised by her single dad alongside her younger brother, Charlie (Teo Briones), Stefani learns that her dreams may be more rooted in reality than she thought, and seeks out her estranged maternal grandmother, Iris, to find answers.
Cast off as delusional, if not dangerous, by her family, Iris is a recluse, living in a small fortress of a home that is designed more for perpetual defence against an unseen yet omnipresent threat than for living. There, Iris gives Stefani a crash course in death's logic and tells of the inevitable fate that their family is destined for: Death is coming for them all.
As Bloodlines unveils its narrative machinations, its best quality as a reboot comes to the fore: its clear reverence for the series. It is also undoubtedly the funniest entry thus far, building on the franchise's trademark hyper-communicative camera work with winking, nostalgic song choices and a script that is patterned with self-referential comic quips and bits. Much like its predecessors, Bloodlines joyfully relishes in its Rube Goldbergian kills and thrills, often trading on the absurd humour of its own fashioning.
In this vein, it is a movie that is well aware of its positioning within the horror ecosystem and that doesn't try to forcefully reinvent itself for 2025. There is no Gen Alpha slang, no perpetual reminder of family trauma (looking at you, David Gordon Green's Halloween reboot trilogy), no evocation of culture wars as a narrative hinge. Bloodlines leans into its own ancestral line, offering up a buffet of often creative – but, truthfully, sometimes underwhelming – kills, sprinkled with a smattering of coy close calls for good measure.
While Bloodlines sustains its energetic outing with dynamic editing and tight narrative pacing, the film unfortunately echoes its predecessors in its reliance on rough CGI over more visually satisfying practical effects. Likewise, the story's death logic sometimes pushes the limits of comprehension, although, to be fair, this twisting of imagination is – as long-time fans know – in line with tradition.
It also facilitates the last onscreen appearance of Final Destination favourite and veteran horror actor Tony Todd, who reprises his character as funeral-home owner William Bludworth one last time. With lines he scripted himself as a final goodbye to fans ahead of his passing in 2024 (after a long illness), Todd's presence offers an unexpected moment of tender sincerity in a movie that otherwise fully leans into what it refers to as 'fate's demented sense of humour.' It's a warm-hearted tribute that further underscores Bloodlines' appreciation for the series and its devotees.
While it might not be the best horror film release this year by any means, Bloodlines is undoubtedly a solid and studied chapter in the Final Destination universe. Audiences nostalgic for the franchise's happily unserious and garishly blood-soaked revelry will likely find themselves cheering and peeking through hand-covered eyes in equal bouts.
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