Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Every Death You Take

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

The latest in the horror series, Adam B. Stein and Zach Lipovsky's Final Destination: Bloodlines seems to lack an understanding of what makes these movies work (if at all); it's bigger, longer, and focuses on more lovable characters, but it adds up to little.

Stefani "Steff" Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) is a college student having trouble with her studies because of a horrifying recurring nightmare. In it, a woman named Iris (Brec Bassinger) and hundreds of others are killed when a structure called The Skytower ruptures and collapses. Steff knows that her grandmother is named Iris, so she returns home to learn more. Her father (Tinpo Lee) is not eager to talk, so she and her younger brother Charlie (Teo Briones) head over to see their cousins Erik (Richard Harmon), Julia (Anna Lore), and Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner).

Steff's uncle Howard (Alex Zahara) is also reluctant to say anything, but Steff's aunt Brenda (April Telek) gives her a clue. She goes to visit her grandmother and finds older Iris (Gabrielle Rose) living in a well-protected fortress. She claims she has spent her life evading death, and gives Steff a book to teach her about what's going on before she, Iris, is killed in a gruesome accident. Steff's estranged mother (Rya Kihlstedt) arrives for the funeral, and Steff realizes that their entire family has been targeted by death. Only one man, the mysterious J.B. (Tony Todd) may have some answers.

This series left off 14 years ago with a weirdly satisfying full circle closure in Final Destination 5; Final Destination: Bloodlines revives it, but doesn't offer anything new. (Even the "Bloodlines" subtitle has already been used by the Pet Sematary, Wrong Turn, and Tremors franchises, while "Bloodline," singular, was used by Hellraiser.)

The appeal of these movies lies in the anonymous, unexplained, cosmic threat of "death," that can come in many possible ways; just when you think you can predict what's going to happen, something goes sideways. We laugh in shock and horror at the sudden randomness of it. This worked OK in lower- to-mid-budget movies about groups of friends, but now we have a more expensive movie, shot for IMAX, and running more than 10 minutes longer than the longest entry to date.

Then we have the loving family, which is horrifyingly well-written; the characters feel genuine and feel like they really have a bond together. When they are grotesquely killed, it hurts just a little bit more because we cared about them, and we know they cared about each other. And yet there's a distinct lack of grieving. The death of a human in this movie means little to nothing.

Now, so long as viewers aren't thinking too hard about things, co-directors Lipovsky and Stein (Freaks) do provide some clever, startling death scenes (especially one involving a highly magnetized MRI machine), but even those are undercut by a reliance on cheap-looking digital gore FX. Perhaps Final Destination: Bloodlines is a resurrection that should have been left where it was, in the morgue.