‘Final Destination: Bloodlines Review’ – Death’s Still Got It | Hollywood Insider

More than 20 years after the franchise’s debut installment and 14 years after its previous film, ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ returns with a vengeance. Opening with a jaw-dropping building collapse disaster that rivals the franchise’s most horrifyingly iconic sequences and ending with a haunting twist, the sixth installment reminds us why Death itself is the most ruthlessly consistent villain in horror cinema. He cannot be outrun, he cannot be beaten. Slick, savage, and sickly funny, ‘Bloodlines’ revives the franchise with razor-sharp pacing, outrageous set pieces, and a twisted sense of fun that proves Death never gives up.

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Premiering May 16 in IMAX, ‘Bloodlines’ is directed by the duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, who previously directed ‘Freaks’ (2018). The pair reportedly landed the gig after staging an elaborate Final Destination scenario during their Zoom interview. One was decapitated by the ceiling fan in front of New Line studio execs. Their bold creativity paid off; the duo crafted not a lazy revival but a jukebox musical of horror, laced with fantastic needle drops, muscular visual storytelling, and a tragic sendoff for a franchise legend.

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“When the Universe Speaks, You Pay Attention” – A Legacy Reborn

After a 14-year hiatus, ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ fits right into the franchise’s slick early-2000s aesthetic, a reminder that while other horror series tend to invent lazy and increasingly absurd reasons to resurrect their legacy characters, ‘Final Destination’ never had to. Death does not allow for nostalgia bait.

The film opens in the 1950s with a stunning “Sky View” observation tower sequence – a Space Needle-like tourist trap that turns from a dreamy nostalgia into graphic chaos. It is a brutal ballet of fate: bolts fly out of their sockets, the glass floor cracks, and a single penny becomes a death sentence for hundreds. It plays like a disaster short film unto itself, packed with gallows of shrieking and cruel, sequential precision. The sound design is surgical, transforming every small creak and rattle into harbingers of doom. The editing is taut and mean– inset shots are lightning-quick, the aspect ratio tightens, and every mundane object feels like a weapon waiting to strike.

This opener sets up the film’s thesis: fate can’t be beaten, only delayed. And when Death catches up, he’s theatrical as hell.

From there, we jump to the present day, where Stefani Lewis (Kaitlyn Santa Juana, in a knockout debut) begins experiencing violent nightmares. She discovers she is living her estranged grandmother, Iris Campbell’s, premonitions of the never-to-happen Sky View disaster. Brec Bassinger, who plays young Iris in the flashbacks, is filled with innocence and fear, a perfect heroine to introduce the film. The past never dies, but the people who survived the Sky View have been dying increasingly in ironic and elaborate ways. And Iris knows, but know one believes her.

Family, Fate, and Female Trauma

While the kills are why we show up, ‘Bloodlines’ earns its place in the canon through the characters, particularly the women at the center of the Campbell-Lewis family. Stefani’s arc is anchored in grief, fear, and a gnawing sense that something is deeply wrong. When she tries to explain her visions, she is dismissed. Brushed off. Told she is like her grandmother, Iris, who has been cast away from the family as paranoid, unstable, and even dangerous. But when Stefani ignores her family’s wishes and visits Iris in her secluded armored cabin, Iris says, “When the universe speaks, you pay attention.’

It is here where the film taps into something deeper than gore. Iris’s obsession with death is not madness, but survival. She’s mapped out every possible way a person can die. Her secluded cabin in the misty woods of Washington is a death-denier’s bunker: spiked gates, duct-taped hazards, a literal war room of omens and warnings. The production design here is immaculate: lived-in, obsessive, tragic.

The film explores generational trauma in surprisingly moving ways. There is pressure on mothers to protect their children, the burden of foresight, and the way women are often punished for their intuition. Gabrielle Rose’s Iris and Rya Kihlstedt’s absent mother, turned savior, Darlene Lewis, are both haunted matriarchs who have paid dearly for cheating death. We learn Iris foresaw the Sky View collapse and got the attendants out just in time. But as the film makes devastatingly clear, saving lives that were not meant to be saved has consequences. Death does not forget. Death does not forgive.

Kaitlyn Santa Juana delivers an emotionally layered performance as Stefani, torn between rational doubt and gut-wrenching fear. Her paranoia is balanced by Richard Harmon (as her cousin, Erik), his comedic sensibilities giving the film much-needed levity. Harmon is hilarious and rebellious, maybe the franchise’s best supporting player since Clear Rivers of ‘Final Destination 2.’ His quips cut through the dread like a scalpel, and his death scene… well, let’s just say, he messed with Death, and things got messy.

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Death, Designed – Set Pieces, Sound, and Savage Irony

What sets ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ apart is not just the return of inventive death, we knew that was coming, but how the entire film feels rigged like a mousetrap, thanks to its setup as a bloodline being eliminated. Every frame hums with tension. Every object, no matter how small, is laced with potential violence. A picture frame. A trampoline. A game of Jenga. The filmmakers understand that what is terrifying is not the kill itself, but the domino effect that leads up to it. There is a cerebral joy in watching the chain reaction click into place– and a wicked glee when they detonate. The production design excels in building these spaces out with just enough realism to keep you constantly scanning the frame for danger.

Lipovsky and Stein use every tool in their box to enhance dread. The camera lingers and twists, then whips away. Aspect ratio shifts. Colors saturate the tension. The score, paired with retro jukebox tracks, creates tonal whiplash in the best way, luring the audience into a false sense of comfort before slamming you with shock. It’s funny, too. The film knows exactly what it is and never takes itself too seriously.

And then, of course, there’s Tony Todd, playing the iconic William Bludworth, returning one final time. His presence is spectral, quiet, but powerful. This is his final on-screen performance before his tragic death last year, and the film treats it with respect and reverence. His final scene is both a curtain call and a chilling reminder that Death doesn’t negotiate, not even with legends.

Your Time is Ticking Down: Final Thoughts

‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ is everything a legacy horror sequel should be: reverent but risky, clever without being smug, and committed to giving the audience what they came for– creative carnage, dread-soaked suspense, and a little existential terror for good measure. By the end, Stefani stares fate in the face, and the question becomes not “Can you escape Death?” but “What happens when you understand him?” With standout performances, jaw-dropping set pieces, and a gleeful commitment to disaster, ‘Bloodlines’ proves once again that the Final Destination series isn’t just about dying, it’s about how we live knowing the end is inevitable.

And if the universe is speaking? Listen carefully. It might just be the sound of your next domino falling.

Main Cast:
Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Stefani Lewis, Brec Bassinger as young Iris Campbell, Gabrielle Rose as Iris Campbell, Rya Kihlstedt as Darlene Lewis, Richard Harmon as Erik Lewis, Tony Todd as William Bludworth

Director(s):
Zach Lipovsky & Adam B. Stein

Crew:
Producers – Craig Perry, Sheila Hanahan Taylor
Writers – Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor
Cinematographer – Karim Hussain
Production Designer – Jennifer Morden
Editor – Tom Elkins
Composer – The Newton Brothers
Sound Design – Trevor Gates
Visual Effects Supervisor – Dennis Berardi

By Leeann Remiker

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‘Final Destination: Bloodlines Review’ – Death’s Still Got It

“When the Universe Speaks, You Pay Attention” – A Legacy Reborn

Family, Fate, and Female Trauma

Death, Designed – Set Pieces, Sound, and Savage Irony

Your Time is Ticking Down: Final Thoughts

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