There is a purity to the divine carnage of the Final Destination franchise. Each film follows the same structure, with a few twists here and there. Someone has a vision of impending destruction, they avoid this fate, then the invisible hand of death continually reaches out in an attempt to kill everyone in the most convoluted and horrifying ways possible. Mercifully, the first installment since 2011, Final Destination: Bloodlines, completely understands what it is meant to do, delivering some of the gnarliest kills the franchise has ever seen. Please see it in IMAX.
A struggling college student named Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) is having gruesome nightmares of a rotating restaurant collapse in the 1960s. She learns the woman she’s been dreaming of is her estranged grandmother Iris (Gabrielle Rose), who has sealed herself off in a secluded cabin in an attempt to avoid Death’s grasp. But she can’t run forever. Before her head is bisected by a weathervane, she gives Stefani a gigantic book where she’s been tracking Death’s tactics, hoping her family can be spared her horrible fate. Obviously, it wouldn’t be much fun if this were a movie where people DIDN’T die, so hope you’re not too attached to the Reyes-Campbell clan.
As far as opening disaster sequences go, the destruction of the tower restaurant is something to behold. Not as instantly iconic as the logs of Final Destination 2, but a perfect blend of gore and laughter. Everyone’s getting set on fire, ripped in half, or just splattering on the ground. No one is spared. Just a total riot, worth the price of admission alone. This is the longest Final Destination film, a whopping 110 minutes, but it never feels like it’s dragging. The deaths are nicely spaced out, with a couple of fakeouts thrown in for good measure. It’s like Death wants to primarily entertain us while he tracks down those who have wrongfully escaped his grasp.
The best part of the film, besides a memorable encounter with an MRI machine, is the genuinely lovely sendoff to franchise mainstay Tony Todd, who passed away last November. Though visibly quite ill, his booming voice never wavers as he gives his last bit of morbid exposition. This is a film that is worthy of his memory, and hopefully the series can continue to honor him in the future. And also blow up more teenagers and let their bones fly across the biggest screens in the world.
Final Destination: Bloodlines
2025
Dir. Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein
109 min
Opens Friday, 5/16 @ Capitol Theatre Arlington, Kendall Square Cinema, Apple Cinemas Cambridge, and all local AMCs
