The Wasteland Reviewer

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) Written Review

How do you really hook an audience when restarting a franchise after fifteen years? You start with a bang! That is certainly the approach leveraged for the latest film in the beloved horror franchise, Final Destination. Bloodlines takes a larger and bold approach to the concept with its biggest group of survivors yet that allows the story to span generations. The opening sequence of this last entry acts as not only a wild mini film but sets up a whole new fresh take on just how vengeful and petty Death can be. A period setting, plenty of expertly laid “smoking guns”, and some efficient character work set the stage for a fantastic opening sequence that makes for an A+ short film. 

Does the rest of the film live up to what is set up in the opening sequence? When it comes to why you are watching a Final Destination, Bloodlines certainly delivers. The directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein lean heavily into the bread and butter of this franchise…the kills. There are so many incredibly wild and shocking kills. The creativity of this franchise is unmatched and the way the film is edited to lay down foreshadowing and red herrings is fantastic. The kills in this film are gnarly and brutal for sure but there is always a tinge of dark humor sprinkled through. This franchise has gotten much more comfortable with its horror/comedy vibes as it has gone on and Lipovsky and Stein lean heavily into this tone. Should you be laughing at the misfortune of these characters? Probably not…but the staging and slapstick comedy is just too hard to ignore. 

Does the story engage you along the way? The bigger concept of the film that Death will follow the family tree of survivors because their families were never meant to be is a sick twist for the film. The concept is great…the narrative and execution are solid. The fantastic opening sequence works because it efficiently sets up a character (Brec Bassinger’s Iris) who we can buy into. Her granddaughter Stefani is a lot less likeable and interesting despite being the focus for the whole film. With a film like this, you must throw a lot of logic out the window and just accept certain things. There is a nice surprise for franchise fans at one point, but it amounts to just some exposition dumping in the end. The film is clever enough to drop some serious red herrings and unexpected revelations about some of its characters. But the final act of the film gets a lot less interesting when it needs to get to its eventual end. The film does really peak with its opening sequence but there is still enough along the way (including a few well-structured kills) that will keep you interested.

 Does the cast deliver along the way? The supporting characters really saved this film in that department. The whole central Reyes family is honestly boring. Kaitlyn Santa Juana struggles to do much with her one-note protagonist and some of her acting choices are just a little too over-the-top compared to how the rest of the cast is acting. The brother, estranged mother, and father characters have little to work with and their actors are solid as a response. Bassinger is charming in the opening sequence and does a lot to empathize with her during the wild opening sequence. The other branch of this family is much more engaging.  Alex Zahara is as kind and endearing as the uncle and we care when horrible things begin to happen to his family. Richard Harmon is a key comic relief member of the cast, and he makes for some hilarious and snarky moments. At the end of the day, the real stars of a Final Destination film are the kills anyway. 

Does Bloodlines make for a welcome return to form for this horror franchise? This is a thrilling and fun time with well-placed humor and gnarly and creative kills. The scale is bigger, and the ideas are bigger too. The plot might not be the most interesting or fresh, but it works well enough to get the audience on to the next big set piece.