Review by Jon Donnis
It's hard to imagine a sixth entry in any horror franchise feeling fresh, let alone meaningful, but Final Destination: Bloodlines pulls it off. Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, this instalment takes everything fans love about the series and anchors it in something more layered, more personal, and surprisingly more emotional. It's still packed with all the elaborate, excruciating death scenes the franchise is known for, but the real standout here is how much effort has gone into building the world around them. The result is easily the most well-rounded Final Destination film to date.
Kaitlyn Santa Juana is excellent as Stefani Reyes, a college student who finds herself at the centre of a generational curse tied to a vision her grandmother had decades ago. The plot spins out from a series of recurring nightmares involving a high-rise restaurant collapse in 1969, which, as it turns out, never actually happened. But the warning signs are there, and the film wastes no time getting under your skin. There's something uniquely haunting about the way it connects premonitions across generations, and it adds weight to the usual tension. You're not just watching a group of teens try to outsmart Death. You're watching a family unravel in real time as they try to understand what's coming for them.
The tone is spot on, balancing that trademark blend of dread, absurdity, and dark humour. The death sequences, as expected, are staged with devilish precision. They're grotesque but almost artful in how they unfold. Just when you think you've figured out what's going to happen, the film flips it, leaving you squirming in your seat. It's not just about shock value. Every kill feeds back into the story and adds a little more weight to the rules that underpin the Final Destination universe.
One of the strongest elements of Bloodlines is how it manages to build on the existing lore without bogging things down. Bringing back William Bludworth (played with quiet menace by Tony Todd) adds a nice sense of continuity, but it's not just fan service. His involvement actually helps explain how and why this curse is playing out, offering the clearest look yet at how Death's design operates. It's clever, but it never loses sight of the emotional core. There's real conflict here, especially between Stefani and her estranged mother, and those moments give the film a surprising amount of heart.
Not everything hits perfectly. At just under two hours, the film does drag a little in the second act. Some of the dialogue edges into cheesy territory, and there are a few beats that feel a bit too familiar if you've followed the series this far. Still, it's hard to hold that against a film that otherwise feels this confident. The pacing might dip, but the tension never fully lets go, and when it ramps up again, it doesn't hold back.
The supporting cast all pull their weight. Teo Briones brings a grounded charm as Charlie, Stefani's younger brother, while Richard Harmon gives Erik just the right mix of swagger and anxiety. Rya Kihlstedt stands out as Darlene, a mother whose absence and trauma ripple through the entire story. And then there's Gabrielle Rose as Iris, delivering one of the more haunting performances the series has seen. Her quiet, deliberate delivery makes the supernatural elements feel eerily plausible.
What really sets Bloodlines apart, though, is its ability to make you care. Yes, the deaths are memorable. Yes, the kills are ridiculous in the best possible way. But for once, you're not just waiting to see who goes next. There's a genuine sense of investment, a reason to want these characters to survive beyond just prolonging the chaos.
It's not perfect, but it doesn't need to be. Final Destination: Bloodlines is smart, brutal, funny, and occasionally quite moving. It's a rare thing for a horror franchise to still have this much energy so far down the line, but here we are. This is easily the most satisfying entry since the original. If you're already a fan, this will hit all the right notes. If you're new, it might just be the one that gets you hooked.
Final Destination: Bloodlines gets a strong 9 out of 10. It gives you everything you expect, and then some.
In Cinemas Now
And on Apple TV https://apple.co/3I4SIcY
