'Final Destination: Bloodlines' Changes the Game in Wildly Entertaining Dance with Death [Review]

It has been over a decade since Final Destination V burst into theaters like a ruptured blood bubble. To say fans of the franchise have been waiting for what feels like forever for Death’s triumphant return would be an understatement. With the sixth film, Final Destination: Bloodlines, arriving this week, that wait is finally over. Rejoice, FD lovers, because it was worth it. The latest installment from directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein (the team behind 2018’s Freaks) is everything a Final Destination film should be. It’s gory. It’s shocking. And most importantly, it’s fun, with a few new twists on Death’s game that offer up some exciting opportunities for the future.

College student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) has seen her grades plummet as the result of a recurring nightmare that is destroying her life. In it, she is transported back decades in time to witness the death of her (still living) grandmother, Iris (Brec Bassinger) and hundreds of others during a bizarre catastrophe of the opening night at a towering restaurant. Unsure of what it all means, she returns home to track down her reclusive relative, igniting a long-gestating plan by Death to take the lives of her family and finish what it started on that night so long ago.

​As you can imagine, things are a little different this time around. The deadly “event” takes place in the past, not the present. Death is after a family, not a random collection of survivors. Those are just a couple of the new twists that writers Guy Busick (Ready or Not, Abigail) and Lori Evans Taylor (Cellar Door) inject into the franchise to give it new life. It’s risky to change what has been a successful formula. Just ask Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (a film I like, for the record). But in this case, it works. That’s because six films in, Final Destination understands its fans well. Their wants. Their expectations. And the filmmakers use that knowledge to subvert what’s expected in ways that feel fresh and exciting rather than disappointing. Just when you think you’re having a premonition of what comes next, Bloodlines cackles in your face like that screaming skull on the poster. This sequel is full of surprises.

Part of Bloodlines’ formula re-invention comes in the guise of the family element. Estranged from her mother, Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt) and on her way to abandoning the rest of her family just like mom did, Stefani finds herself in a desperate predicament of trying to reform the relationships that she’s let deteriorate while at the same time pushing her brother and cousins away by becoming overprotective. Rather than explore survivor’s guilt as previous entries have done, Lipovsky and Stein’s film instead peers into a family torn apart by generational trauma passed down by their grandmother. There’s even a bit of Halloween’s (2018) Laurie Strode in her, with Grandma Iris (Gabrielle Rose) holed up in a fortified home, wary of Death’s every move (only in this case, the filmmakers recognize the absurdity of that and play up the humor to great effect). It’s an element that creates an emotional anchor and raises the stakes a notch above what we’re used to with these films. These aren’t strangers who barely know each other. They’re a family fighting to save one another from a grief that has plagued them for decades. That bond in the face of Death and a theme around the cost of living in fear assure Bloodlines has moments that hit like a logging truck.

At this point, you know what you’re getting with a Final Destination film. Bloodlines neither exceeds nor disappoints on that front. It delivers on the elaborate and surprising Rube Goldberg setups that Death sits in his office all day planning, a bottle of whiskey by his side and a pile of discarded plans filling the wastebasket. Bodies are prone to splattering like blood bombs. The characters all make cartoonishly stupid decisions. And you’ll likely leave with a new phobia or two. This sixth entry knows exactly what it is and leans all the way into the playful tone we’ve come to expect with these movies. Only Bloodlines is perhaps more mischievous than ever in how it toys with the audience, spewing plenty of self-referential humor without becoming eye-rolling. In that sense, it is the most “for the fans” of the bunch in the best way possible.

Of course, I must mention the late, great Tony Todd, who does make one last appearance in Bloodlines as the iconic harbinger, William Bludworth. Unlike other franchises that pull favorite characters back in for a cheap stunt, Todd’s cameo here is a warm tribute to the character, the fans and the actor himself. During my screening, the filmmakers informed us that Todd’s final words on screen are what he wanted to say to the fans, and let me tell you, it will leave a tear or two in your eyes. It’s a fond farewell to one of the most beloved actors the genre has ever seen, making this sequel a special entry for that alone.

With Bloodlines, Lipovsky and Stein express a deep love and adoration for the Final Destination films, delivering all the key elements that make the franchise tick, while offering up a few new tricks that’ll keep seasoned fans on their toes. I can’t say where it’ll ultimately rank in the franchise--The Final Destination is still bottom tier—but if you enjoy these movies, then you’re going to have a bloody good time with this wildly entertaining dance with Death.

Final Destination arrives in theaters on May 16th. 

By Matt Konopka