Plagued by a violent and recurring nightmare, a college student heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle of death and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.
Director: Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein
Cast: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, Tony Todd
Release Date: May 16, 2025
Genre: Horror
Rated R for strong violent/grisly accidents, and language.
Runtime: 1h 49m
Review:
Final Destination: Bloodlines breathes some new life into the dormant series thanks to directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein embracing the goofy, gory fun of the concept along with a series of cleverly designed death traps. The Final Destination films have always had a sinister sense of humor which the better entries have used to great effect. Lipovsky and Stein use a barebones family drama to give the film a bit of connective tissue and stakes which works in spots but noticeably lags in others, leaving you wishing for some tighter editing since the deaths are stars of the show. The good news is that they prove more than capable of delivering some tense, funny and splatter-filled moments of mayhem that will leave you laughing more than anything else as they manage to make the most mundane items look lethal. They smartly play with audience expectations by using a handful of well-placed misdirects to give the film an air of uncertainty. They benefit from a cast who clearly understand what type of film they are making and fully embrace the absurdity of it all even as they recite their clunky dialogue. Kaitlyn Santa Juana leads the main cast of meat puppets with a serviceable but forgettable turn. Brec Bassinger fares better in the opening flashback sequence during the funhouse destruction of a new tower restaurant. Richard Harmon and Owen Patrick Joyner have a fun brotherly chemistry together which the film takes full advantage of during their big set piece. Tony Todd cameos as the sole recurring character in the series, William Bludworth, with the film giving him a rather touching sendoff both onscreen and off. It all makes for a return to form for the Final Destination series with Bloodlines ranking in the top three with general ease.
B-
