Final Destination: Bloodlines – A Breath of Fresh Air (Early Review)

The Final Destination franchise is built on one specific concept: death comes for everyone, and it doesn’t like to be cheated. Despite how many premonitions and close calls its main characters have had in each installment, unfortunate butterfly effects threaten to bring an end to their lives, and in many cases, get everyone by the end. Despite this bleak viewpoint, the franchise has cultivated a solid fanbase within the horror community, even if its installments have not necessarily been well received by audiences, particularly its much maligned fourth entry.

Set fourteen years after Final Destination 5 revitalized–and subsequently paused–the franchise, Final Destination: Bloodlines follows Stefani Reyes (Juana), a college student plagued by a recurring visceral nightmare depicting the horrifying premonition of a woman (Brec Bassinger) facing her impending doom, quickly putting it together that it is connected to her own family and their lives. She returns home to warn them that Death is coming for them, and as is par for the course, what follows is a sequence of events that dictates the order of death and puts everyone’s lives on the chopping block. From there, Death comes for them one family member at a time, playing out in a way that audiences have come to expect.

From a showstopping sequence at the top of a building–quite possibly the biggest scene in any Final Destination film to date–to a creatively staged tattoo parlor mishap, Bloodlines is filled with terrific set pieces from directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, as characters have to navigate through life, not knowing when the simplest gust of wind or a step taken in the wrong direction can send them to meet their maker in often incredibly disturbing ways. Like previous installments, those aspects are played up to the extreme once again, and with a lot of self-awareness this time around. In many ways, Bloodlines is the franchise’s funniest entry, often mocking the idea of death and circumventing expectations in some scenes to lead the audience astray and make it more unpredictable. It results in a new life breathed into the franchise, paving the way for more unique approaches to death. While at times the CGI can be a bit shaky, and some more practical moments could have been executed better, it excels in this aspect in spades.

Instead of simply delivering the greatest hits in the franchise, Final Destination: Bloodlines expands the workings of Death previously seen in the franchise and changing how the premonitions work. Yes, one can still see flashes of an incoming event and sometimes, an entire fiasco play out in the most devastating ways imaginable, but through the concept of a family tree and the potential issues that arise with its existence in this world, the film asks some difficult questions when it comes to deciding their fates, and if they can defeat the inevitable. By bringing the family dynamic to how Death does its work, Bloodlines makes for a much different experience than the franchise’s earlier installments, setting it apart.

As such, Final Destination: Bloodlines is also hugely successful with its characters, who are given more depth compared to the previous entries. As Stefani returns home and is reunited with her dad Marty (Tinpo Lee) and younger brother Charlie (Briones), she also meets her cousins after a long time like Erik (Richard Harmon), Bobby (Owen Joyner) and Julia Campbell (Anna Lore), all of whom seem to be at a distance from her. As the film progresses, the story explores how this indifference between them came to be, and gives the different dynamics a chance to shine, such as Stefani and Charlie, as well as Erik and Bobby, with Harmon’s eccentric and wacky Erik stealing the show quite often. Without giving any spoilers, this family dynamic also extends to other members who have been distant for some time, and the film often pauses to give them a chance to reconnect and remember the days when things were better. A highlight of the narrative, it makes the sequences where the characters are on the chopping block more tense.

That being said, there are other dynamics that remain more undercooked. Some moments with Stefani’s aunt Brenda (April Telek) and Julia, for instance, are built on some more emotional ground that is established early on, but doesn’t fully get the chance to flourish past the initial stages, with some backstory elements skimmed over and then forgotten about. Despite some circumventions, Bloodlines does follow the established formula in some ways regardless, especially when Stefani begins to put together that there is a sequential order to the incoming deaths and that some family members may go before others. Like in every installment, there are characters who instantly are in her corner and want to do something about it, and those who are instantly skeptical and call her crazy for it. As such, it doesn’t avoid every horror trope it intends to, and does go for some conventional subplot threads.

Despite some gripes, Final Destination: Bloodlines is next to the first as the finest entry of the franchise and its most refined, finding the pulse in a franchise built on stopping the pulses of others as viscerally as possible. A series of unforgettable shots and surprise moments add up to a fun experience, while also building on the mythos of Death and its workings. And from a retrospective point of view, in its now most somber moment, gives the late Tony Todd a wonderful farewell and final scene as Bludworth, signing off with a good luck and a smile.

Score: 80/100

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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Shaurya Chawla