Final Destination Bloodlines (2025)
Final Destination Bloodlines: Bloody Good Time | 3.5/5
Written by Noah Dietz: 5/24/2025
People who follow me on Letterboxd might remember my stretch of Hooptober last year when I decided to binge all the Final Destination films. On a return I realized I really didn’t like them as much as I had when I was in my early twenties, even for their camp value. I’m willing to say I was a little in my own head about it since they are generally a fun watch, but a franchise to binge they are not. That said, it was a complete and finished tale by the time we got to the final film. As a huge fan of the fifth installment, I even thought the story had concluded well enough to maintain a sort of legacy, especially if viewers decide to pretend a majority of the fourth film doesn’t exist. I was proud of them for letting the franchise sleep, so you can imagine my slight annoyance when I saw the most recent in a long string of legacy sequels announced for a series that had been dead for the better part of 15 years. Why dig up another body to stoke the fires of nostalgia? Why not let this one rest? It’s almost a miracle that the fifth film was as decent a conclusion as it ended up being, and I was sure there was no chance another half-hearted reboot a la the 2022 Texas Chainsaw Massacre would be an addition worth anyone’s time.
I’m happy to report, however, that this is not a half-hearted reboot. Final Destination Bloodlines keeps up the remembered energy of the original run, and manages to pick up in a better place than the franchise left off.
Our opening scene is always the strongest part of any Final Destination entry. Everyone has their own favorite, with the car crash from Final Destination 2 being a popular pull, but Bloodlines manages to set up what is not only our longest intro to date but one of the more brutal as well. The string of disasters that take place in our Space Needle–style restaurant pull in a slew of fears people will have about suspended buildings (can you say glass floors?), in addition to the regular Rube Goldberg deaths. When the film opened I was surprised at just how long things did run. It’s a strong opening that had all our classic building blocks from the past and some new ones as well, and you can see that this is easily the part of the movie that got the biggest slice of the budget. Whether it’s the fireballs or people plummeting to their doom, this is where the hard-hitting action lies. No need to worry though: the kills we get afterward are just as just as individual and fun as you could ever hope for. Ranging from freak accident to meticulously orchestrated, there’s plenty to like here.
Just as importantly, the characters we spend the film with are actually enjoyable! We’ve done away with a group of strangers working through it together, instead opting for a family unit that actually has real chemistry and understandable internal motivations. We aren’t trapped with nearly the same kind of phone-in performances some of the middle entries gave us, nor are we trapped with some of the less enjoyable archetypes. Most of our characters are incredibly dialed in to who they need to be, while being less cartoonish than most of the other side deaths we’ve had in the past. The family connection also ties into the new rule we’ve been given for death’s machinations in this film. Each Final Destination entry has given us a new piece of the puzzle and this one is no different. We’ve moved on from some of the more sprawling elements of the past and tightened down on what the important details are. I won’t get into too many details here, but the bloodline angle is probably one of the more inspired moves they’ve made to date.
Of course it’s not all perfect. There’s a really weird lull in the middle while we ramp into the contrived deaths. Also, if I’m being honest, I’m not a huge fan of the death-proof cabin we’ve got on hand. It feels like a weird combo of Laurie’s compound in the 2018 Halloween and a Call Of Duty map. It’s weird, it’s grey, and I just don’t much care for the set piece in general. That said, some of the moments that are lacking still manage to hit hard. The CG is, to put it kindly, not good. There are times where it’s solid, but there are far more moments where it’s not. I feel like the middling CG adds to the atmosphere and isn’t a huge detractor, but that’s a personal opinion I don't expect all to hold.
All said, with solid performances from most of our leads and a fun selection of kills, I would heartily recommend catching Final Destination Bloodlines before it leaves the theater. It starts fun, it stays fun, it’s better than The Final Destination, and—for a sixth entry in a franchise? We could do far, far worse.